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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN 

ISSUED WEEKLY 

Vol. XIX March 27, 1922 N^ gj 

[Entered as second-class matter December 11, 1912. at the post office at Urbana. Illinois under thp 
Act of August 24. 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of postage provided f^^^ 
section 1103. Act of October 3, 1917. authorized July 31, 1918.] provmea lor in 



ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL POLICY 

A CONFERENCE 

at the 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

January 26 and 27 
1922 




PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 



Won«|nph' 



* 




Eugene Davenport 



PAPERS 
PRESENTED AT A CONFERENCE ON 

ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL POLICY 



January 26 and 27 
1922 




PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
URBANA 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

:?ECEIVED 

MAY 10 1922 

DOCUMtNTtJ LiiViJlOi. 



•a 



V 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 7 

I. A QUARTER-CENTURY OF AGRICULTURAL 
PROGRESS IN ILLINOIS: A REVIEW OF 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

A System of Permanent Agriculture 

Ralph Allen 11 

Developments in the Dairy Industry 

N. W. Hepburn 16 

Developments in Horticulture 

J. C. Blair 27 

The Work of the Agricultural Experiment Station 

L. H. Smith 37 

The Work of the College of Agriculture 

Fred H. Rankin 46 



II. NEWER PHASES OF AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS 

Newer Problems in Soil Treatment 

Frank I. Mann 56 

Business Aspects of Farming 

Charles A. Ewing 61 

The Farm Bureau 

E. T. Robbins 71 

The Illinois Agricultural Association 

D, O. Thompson 79 

An International Crop Reporting Service 

H. J. Sconce 82 

Financing Farming 

J. D. Phillips 87 



III. AGRICULTURE IN ITS RELATION TO OTHER 
INTERESTS 



PAGE 

The Business of Farming in Some of Its Larger Aspects 

Thomas Nixon Carver 91 



The University and the Farm 

David Kinley 101 



IV. NEXT STEPS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOP- 
MENT IN ILLINOIS: A PROGRAM FOR A 
BETTER BALANCED AGRICULTURE 



The Introduction of New Crops 

C. L. Meharry Ill 



Farm Forestry in Illinois 

A. N. Abbott 120 



Can Illinois Come Back as a Stock Breeding Ground ? 

W. S. CoRSA 122 

The Outlook for Live Stock in Illinois Agriculture 

H. W. MUMFORD 128 



Roadside Improvement 

W. N. RuDD 136 



The Country Home 

J. V. Stevenson 142 



V. THE PLACE OF THE AGRICULTURAL COL- 
LEGE AND EXPERIMENT STATION IN AN 
ILLINOIS PROGRAM FOR AGRICULTURAL 
DEVELOPMENT 



PAGE 

Physiological Bases of Crop Production 

W. L. BURLISON 151 



Economic Phases of Farming 

W. F. Handschin 161 



The Agricultural Extension Service 

M. L. MosHER 170 



Some Next Steps in the Work of the Agricultural College 
and Experiment Station 
Eugene Davenport 177 



VL THE PROGRAM 187 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 

'T^ HE retirement of Dr. Eugene Davenport from the deanship of 
'*" the College of Agriculture at the close of the present University 
year will close an era in the agricultural educational history in Illinois. 
His withdrawal comes at a time of depression in the farming interests 
of the state. For both these reasons it seemed to me well to call a 
conference of people interested in agriculture, to review the agricul- 
tural development of the state from the educational, scientific, and 
practical viewpoints for the twenty-five years through which Dean 
Davenport has served, and to try to frame, if possible, the main out- 
lines of a general policy of agricultural development for the state in 
the next quarter of a century. 

Accordingly, a call for such a conference was issued on January 
4, 1922, as follows: 

A CALL FOR A CONFERENCE ON ILLINOIS 
AGRICULTURAL POLICY 

The present wide depression in agriculture has again called the 
attention of the country sharply to the fundamental position of agri- 
culture in the economic life of the people. The condition of the 
farmer through the past twelve months has impressed upon people's 
minds more firmly than ever the idea that the prosperity of all of us 
rests primarily upon the prosperity of those of us who are engaged in 
agriculture. 

The present condition of depression in agriculture, whatever 
the immediate causes of that depression, enforces upon our attention 
two important problems. One is the early relief from the prevalent 
economic pressure under which the farmers are living. The other 
is the factors at work to influence and give direction and character to 
American agriculture in the next quarter of a century. While the 
present depression is, speaking in a general way, a result of the war, 
there are reasons for thinking that it is part of a readjustment, not only 
of temporary conditions, but of conditions which in character are more 
permanent. In other words, American agriculture probably reached 
a point within the past decade at which it was to assume a different 
character from what it had in the past generation. There is ground 
for the belief that much of our cultivated land under prevalent prac- 



tises and existing knowledge, has reached the point of diminishing re- 
turns. It has become a serious question whether large-scale agronomic 
farming, as hitherto practised, is likely to be as successful in the future 
on certain acres of our land as it has been in the past fifty years. Re- 
duction of fertility, increase of population, changes in economic rela- 
tions of agricultural groups and classes, as well as other influences, are 
factors in deciding on this point. Our beef-raising industry has 
changed geographically and economically as well as in many of its 
practises. Areas that a few years ago were largely devoted to suc- 
cessful cattle breeding are no longer suitable for that purpose. Old 
farming practises whether in large-scale or small-scale agriculture, are 
changing and will undoubtedly change more. We must find answers 
to such questions as these : 

How can farming be made to pay, especially in those parts of the 
country where the value of farm land has largely risen ? 

What attitude shall the community take towards the increase in 
tenant farming? 

Can anything be done to restore cattle production on a large 
scale in states like Illinois, which have lost their preeminence in that 
industry? 

What effect is the growth of cities having on the size and char- 
acter of nearby farms? 

How can we insure the permanent retention of the fertility of 
the soil ? 

Is there any system which might be adopted whereby the adapta- 
tion of different crops to different soils may be more accurately de- 
termined, and the use of proper crops on soils be insured ? 

What can be done to preserve the country home ? 

Aside from these questions affecting permanent policy, we should 
find a method soon of relieving the present pressure on the farmer. 
Agricultural finance is one of the pressing problems of the day. 

While the topics referred to in the preceding paragraph, and 
many others of like character that will suggest themselves to the 
reader may be asked with reference to the country as a whole, it is 
peculiarly our duty in Illinois to ask them with reference to Illinois 
agriculture. It is fitting, too, that the question should be discussed 
at the seat of the College of Agriculture and the State Experiment 
Station which the people have established to aid them in the solution 
of these and similar live problems. For that reason, after conference 



with my colleagues at the University and others interested, I am call- 
ing a conference of farmers, scientists, and educators in agriculture to 
be held at the University of Illinois College of Agriculture on Thurs- 
day and Friday, January 26 and 27, 1922, to consider, as far as time 
will permit, the general subject of the future of agriculture in Illinois 
in the next twenty-five years. What should be the agricultural policy 
of Illinois? Can we decide in advance on suitable methods of tillage 
for the different soils of the state ? Can we restore our preeminence 
in beef cattle production? What can we do, to make conditions of 
living in the country sufficiently attractive to maintain the balance of 
desire for country and city life so far as that desire is determined by 
general living conditions? What are the relations of farming to in- 
dustry and trade? 

These and other questions will be discussed. 

In the name of the University, and particularly of the College of 
Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Station, I take pleasure 
in inviting all citizens of the state who are interested in the matter, to 
be present at this conference and to take part in its discussions. 



At the conclusion of the Conference a committee was appointed 
to consider the propositions advanced and discussed and to report at 
as early a date as compatible with thoro consideration, whatever rec- 
ommendations or proposals appear to the committee to be helpful in 
determining the general direction of our agricultural development. 
The committee appointed consists of: 

Charles A. Ewing, Decatur (Chairman) A. N. Abbott, Morrison 

Frank I. Mann, Gilman Jos. R. Fulkerson, Jerseyville 

Eugene D. Funk, Shirley H. T. Rainey, Carrollton 

W. S. Corsa, JVIiite Hall J. V. Stevenson, Streator 

George A. Fox, Sycamore Harvey J. Sconce, Sidell 

V7. S. Perrine, Centralia Herbert W. Mumford, Urbana 

W. N. RuDD, Blue Island Walter F. Handschin, Urbana 

The papers presented at the Conference are printed in this pam- 
phlet. The committee's report will be printed separately when it is 

received. 

David Kin ley 

President 




A SYSTEM OF PERMANENT AGRICULTURE 

Ralph Allen^ Delavan 

N ORDER to understand better the system of soil fertility, 
as advocated in Illinois, one should be somewhat familiar 
with the motives which inspired Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins, its 
originator and promulgator. The ultimate goal toward 
which Dr. Hopkins labored was the solution of the problem 
of an unlimited food supply for man, even when his num- 
bers were constantly increasing. He realized that the decadence of 
empires and of civilization was primarily due to underfed, underde- 
veloped peoples, caused by the I depletion of the soil's power to produce 
sufficient food ; and that the powerful people of the earth were those 
only who lived upon the new and unexhausted lands. 

The progressive movement of civilized man has been westward — 
new lands have been occupied and exhausted until the circle of ex- 
ploitation of the earth is about completed. Dr. Hopkins realized that 
the decadence of man as a civilized race must therefore follow, unless 
a system of soil renewal could be discovered whereby the effect of 
man's occupancy of the land could be reversed from soil destroying to 
soil building. In this process he knew that the farmer must be the 
active agent ; therefore the farmer must receive the first consideration. 
The farmer must prosper. He must realize a compensation for his 
labor comparable with that of other industries. His business should 
pay sufficiently to bring back quickly the money paid out in the pro- 
cess of renewing the soil. In other words, agriculture to exist must 
be profitable. Dr. Hopkins' object, therefore, was to bring about a 
permanent human food supply, at the same time looking out for the 
well-being and profit of the farmer. 

A System That Is Profitable 

Before the time of Dr. Hopkins, soil investigators had learned 
many things relating to the use of chemical elements in producing the 
growth of plants. But to secure the benefits of this knowledge in 
such a wholesale way that all farmers could practise the system and 
keep the cost of production below the money value of the increase in 
the crop, it was necessary to discard every expenditure possible. Dr. 
Hopkins realized that the success of a system of agriculture which 
would produce an abundance of food for all would depend upon free- 
dom from competition between farmers for their supply of the 

11 



12 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

elements of fertility. He therefore incorporated into the Illinois Sys- 
tem of Permanent Agriculture the use of such natural forces and re- 
sources as are available, free and equally to all farmers alike, and 
which cost nothing ; instead of resorting to the costly processes of fer- 
tilizer manufacture in order to accomplish this purpose. This principle 
is one of the distinctive features of the Illinois system of permanent 
agriculture. For example, in pursuance of this theory, he used bac- 
teria to get the soil nitrogen, discarding the commercially prepared, 
highly expensive forms of nitrogen. He used soil acids of decompo- 
sition to render soluble the insoluble phosphates in place of those com- 
mercially and more expensively prepared. The mineral elements 
needed for the soil he secured as nearly as possible in their most natural 
forms; as, for example, raw rock phosphate, prepared only by being 
finely ground ; and lime, used in the form of coarsely ground limestone. 

Fertility Is Maintained and Increased 

He recognized the fact that every crop grown takes something 
out of the soil, and no matter how great the resources of fertility may 
be, unless that which is taken out is returned, the soil will eventually 
be exhausted. On the other hand, he saw that with a system of soil 
treatment which would provide for the return to the soil of those 
elements which are removed, the fertility of soil so treated could be 
maintained indefinitely; and in case more was returned to the soil 
than was taken from it, such soil would steadily increase in 
productiveness. 

Still further, he realized that lands naturally barren, or lands 
long since exhausted by farming and abandoned by man, could be made 
once more productive by the same process. A very distinctive feature 
of the Illinois system of permanent soil fertility is that it builds up 
the soil to a permanently higher state of fertility. We may take, by 
way of example, the practise of applying to the brown silt loam type 
of soil, which contains twelve hundred pounds of phosphorus per acre 
in the stratum turned by the plow, one ton per acre of fourteen per 
cent raw rock phosphate during each five-year rotation. After de- 
ducting the loss of phosphorus occasioned by taking ofif two sixty- 
bushel crops of corn, a sixty-bushel crop of oats, a thirty-bushel crop 
of wheat, and a crop of two tons of clover, there would be accumulated 
in the soil at the end of four rotations, or twenty years, a quantity of 
unused phosphorus sufficient to build up the phosphorus content of the 
soil to well above the standard for fertile soils, which is two thousand 
pounds per acre. This is in contradistinction to other systems of fer- 



PERMANENT AGRICULTURE 13 

tilizing the soil which have in view only the effect upon the immediate 
crop and which commonly apply less phosphorus per acre than the 
crops remove during each rotation ; with the result that at the end of 
the twenty-year period, there is a depletion instead of an increase in 
the total phosphorus content of the soil. 

Differences in Soils Recognized 
Another characteristic feature of the Illinois system of permanent 
soil fertility is that it recognizes the differences in soils. It takes into 
consideration the fact that they differ in physical character and in 
chemical composition, and that their treatment must vary according 
to these differences. In the beginning of Dr. Hopkins' work, there- 
fore, the necessity for a thoro knowledge of all the soils of the state 
was apparent, and a survey of the soil types of the state was com- 
menced and is still going on. Among other things, this survey aims 
to determine what the character of these types is, both chemical and 
physical; what constitutes the differences between one type and an- 
other ; where the different kinds of soils are to be found, together with 
their exact location and boundaries. 

Realizing still further the necesssity of recognizing the differences 
in soils, experimental fields were established and are still maintained 
by the Experiment Station on varying types of soils, in order to test 
out, by means of growing crops, the different systems of soil treatment, 
and to learn how the soils respond in crop production to applications 
of different elements of plant food. These fields are, by long-time 
leases or by deed, devoted permanently to these soil experiments; so 
that with the lapse of time, the effect of the system on the permanency 
of the improvement in the soil will become known. 

Two systems of farming have been in operation on many of the 
experiment fields. One is called the live-stock system and the other, 
the grain system. The object of maintaining these two systems is not 
to determine whether one is better than the other, but rather to de- 
termine ways to maintain the fertility of the soil under either system. 
The grain system is applicable to the great grain-growing areas, where 
almost all the grain is sold from the farm, none being fed to live stock 
and no manure made. It consists in substituting for manure the use 
of leguminous catch crops, all crop residues being plowed under. The 
live-stock system includes the use of manure in such amounts as can be 
made from the crops grown. Under either system, the crop rotation 
and the supply of minerals are the same, the humus and nitrogen of the 
soil are maintained in about the same amounts, and the crop yields 
obtained are also the same. 



14 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



r 



Based on Extensive Investigations 



The extensive organization for soil investigations put into opera- 
'tion by the Illinois Experiment Station under the direction of Dr. 
Hopkins is the most extensive of any that has ever been operated 
and should be continued. The soil survey should be completed as 
rapidly as possible while there is yet time to complete it under the 
present direction, not only in order to carry out the present standard 
of detail and accuracy but to give it that uniformity of classification 
which can best be attained in work of this kind when it is done by the 
same individual. I would recommend that the soil experiment fields 
be fully continued, for the longer they are operated, the greater is the 
worth of the results. New and unforeseen results and problems are 
appearing in the long-time operated fields, which did not show earlier. 
These fields, which are also used as demonstration fields to show the 
effects of soil treatment on crop production to farmers, are visited an- 
nually by many farmers and landowners. A community interest in 
them has already developed, and I believe the people would resent 
anything which endangered their continuance. 

A Permanent and Steady Food Supply 

To sum it all up: The thing which distinguishes the Illinois 
System of Permanent Agriculture is its object ; which is to bring about 
a permanent and steadily increasing human food supply, limited more 
by human labor than by earth's resources. The one condition is that 
the system must be profitable as a business, for if agriculture cannot 
prosper it cannot continue. The system is distinctive in that it may 
be practised equally by all farmers, with little competition between 
one farmer and another. As far as possible, it displaces costly human 
effort in the form of commercial fertilizers by using instead the free- 
to-all natural forces and resources. It solves the problem of treat- 
ment specifically for each and every type of soil. It provides in a 
practical way for the return to the soil of each of the elements of plant 
food taken from it by cropping or by leaching, and in such a generous 
way that more is actually given back than is taken out, so that the 
final replenishment of the earth's soils is assured. In short, the sys- 
tem builds up the soil. It brings back again to profitable productive- 
ness lands long since barren and abandoned ; and it shows the way by 
which all lands that can be cultivated may, as time goes on, become 
capable of producing more and more food. 



PERMANENT AGRICULTURE 15 

Doctor Hopkins' Life Work 

The solution of the problem of the human food supply is the cul- 
mination of Dr. Hopkins' life work. It is a thing complete in itself. 
I liken it to the discovery by Columbus of a new continent : the dis- 
covery was complete in the first voyage, others could develop his find- 
ings. So Dr. Hopkins' great life work was complete when he devised 
the system of agriculture which showed the way to change the habit 
of man from soil ruin to soil building; but the development of this 
great work, like that of the discovery by Columbus, will take cen- 
turies. 

It is almost impossible for me to think of the Illinois system of 
permanent agriculture without continually having in mind the per- 
sonality of Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins, its author ; and I have referred to 
him in this paper frequently. There were others who were intimately 
associated with him and who gave essential help in the development 
of this soil system. Two of these were with him so long and were so 
essential to the success of his plans that I feel I should mention them. 
In writing this, I speak from personal knowledge of the relationship 
existing between Dr. Hopkins and them. The first. Professor J. G. 
Mosier, has charge of the soil survey ; and it was his skill in soil class- 
ification and accuracy of work that achieved the reliability of the 
survey, without which the survey would have had little value. The 
second. Dr. Eugene Davenport, took an active and essential part in 
the development of the Illinois system of permanent agriculture ; and 
his influence pervaded every feature of Dr. Hopkins' work. Primarily 
a soil student, thoroly informed in the soil literature of the day, having 
already commenced the system of soil investigations in Illinois by 
laying out a complete system of soil experiments at the University Ex- 
periment Station and in the southern part of the state, Dr. Davenport 
was eminently prepared to cooperate through the whole course of Dr. 
Hopkins' investigations. This relationship amounted really to in- 
terdependence and, it seems to me, was essential to the formation of 
the Illinois system of permanent agriculture. 

Dr. Hopkins' discovery stands out as a distinct endeavor. It 
was new, unheard of, unthought of. He was the first to call the 
world's attention to the thought of safeguarding and making a plan 
for the permanent food supply through the conservation of the soil. 




DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 

N. W. Hepburn, Peoria 
N THE field of dairy husbandry we find a natural division 
occurring between production, on the one hand, and the 
manufacture and sale of dairy products, on the other. The 
two are so interdependent, however, that any review of the 
development of dairying would not be complete without 
considering both phases of the industry. It is almost 
impossible to point out the progress, either in the production or 
the manufacture and traffic in dairy products during the past twenty- 
five years, without first going back into the period just preceding the 
time in question. 

It was only natural that Illinois should, in the early days, de- 
velop as a grazing state. Her almost boundless prairies, rich in native 
grasses, furnished ideal forage for cattle and sheep. With a scanty 
population, there was no particular demand for milk or butter or 
cheese, except to satisfy the individual needs of the family. With the 
increased production of grains, particularly corn, it was only another 
step to feed these grains to live stock to fatten them for market. And 
thus was built up the system of feeding and fattening animals, many 
of which were raised on the ranches farther west. It was not until 
1855-1860, with the opening of a market for whole milk in Chicago, 
that there was any great stimulus toward the production of dairy pro- 
ducts in Illinois. Since that time, the development has been rapid. 
Broadly speaking, we can classify producers under two heads. The 
first group includes those farmers who derive their major source of in- 
come from the sale of dairy products ; the product which they produce 
is for the most part whole milk, and they are located generally in close 
groups around the larger cities. Over against this group is one which 
is much more widely distributed, and which derives its revenue prin- 
cipally from the sale of cream; in this group dairying constitutes 
merely an important side line. The development in these two groups 
has been simultaneous, tho the factors causing the growth have been 
somewhat different. 

Factors Responsible for the Development of Production 

In a general way we may say that four factors have been largely 
responsible for the development of production. They are : first, the 
introduction and utilization of the silo ; second, the centrifugal cream 

16 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 17 

separator; third, the discovery of a simple test for fat in milk; and 
fourth, better and more rapid methods of transportation, together 
with the development of refrigeration. 

It is interesting to know that the first silo in Illinois, and indeed 
in the United States, so far as we have records to show, was built by 
Sidney Hatch, of Spring Grove, in 1873. The real development of 
the silo, however, has occurred during the last quarter of a century. 
We have now come to regard the silo and the use of silage as so 
important in economical milk production that few dairymen indeed 
would attempt to produce milk without them. DeLaval, when he 
applied the principle of centrifugal force to the separation of fat from 
the other constituents of milk, was truly a benefactor to the small 
farmer who was then producing butter as a side line. Until the dis- 
covery of the "Babcock test" for fat in milk, there never had been a 
satisfactory basis for establishing the selling price of that product. 
With the introduction and general use of this simple test it became 
possible to differentiate between milk carrying different percentages of 
fat. This gave a measure of value which had hitherto been impossible. 
It tended to stabilize the market, and gave a confidence to the producer 
which he had not felt before. Furthermore, it gave him an oppor- 
tunity to measure the production of his cows and to get production 
over to more nearly a business basis. The dairyman was keen to see 
the advantage of knowing the production of each cow in his herd. 
This in turn led to the development of cow-testing associations ; which 
have shown a marked growth during the last ten or a dozen years. 
In fact, from one cow-testing association in 1910 which tested about 
three hundred cows, we have gone to twenty-six associations in 1922, 
which have tested nearly eleven thousand cows. Undoubtedly the 
fat test for milk has been a big factor in the development of production. 

Better and more rapid methods of transportation, together with 
the use of refrigerator cars, have materially widened the zone of 
whole-milk production. In fact it is now possible to deliver fluid milk 
on the central market over a distance of three hundred miles in as 
good condition as it would have been delivered in one-tenth that dis- 
tance forty years ago. Indeed it is reported that during a recent milk 
strike in the St. Louis region, milk was shipped in considerable quan- 
tity from the state of Michigan and arrived in good condition. The 
same development in transportation has aided the cream producer, and 
has made possible the establishment of the large centralizers for the 
manufacture of this cream into butter. 



18 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Finally, it would not be possible to discuss the question of pro- 
duction during the past twenty-five years without making mention 
of the mechanical milker. The last quarter of a century has seen 
the development of the milking machine from its merest beginning to 
its present extended use. There may be some question as to how 
much machine milking has stimulated production, and there may be 
some question now as to its ultimate success, but certain it is that it has 
been an important factor in production and should receive a great deal 
of attention in the years to come. 

Dairy Products 

In Illinois the manufacture and traffic in dairy products is now 
less than seventy-five years old. Prior to 1850 little or no attention 
was given to any form of dairying. Butter-making at that time was 
considered one of the household duties, carried on principally to supply 
the family needs for butter, the excess being taken to the store for 
what was termed in those days "store pay." This resulted in the 
accumulation of miscellaneous lots of butter of inferior quality, which 
was packed in boxes or barrels and sold in the East as Western butter. 
Thus, in the early days the Middle West established a reputation for 
inferior dairy products, which it took years to overcome. 

Naturally, as soon as more cows were kept than were needed to 
supply home demands, one of the first forms of commercializing the 
industry was that of selling whole milk. This branch of the industry 
may be said to have begun in 1852, when P. H. Smith, of Elgin, took 
one eight-gallon can of milk to the Northwestern station and shipped 
it to the old City Hotel in Chicago. From that time on until now 
the industry has grown until we could not measure the calamity that 
would result if the supply of thousands of such cans were shut off 
from the city of Chicago for a single day. 

In 1877 the Chicago Journal published the following article; 
which not only shows the development of the city milk business but 
also gives the public view of the business at that time : 

The item of milk for daily consumption in a city like Chicago is some- 
thing enormous. This supply must come from the rural districts, and within 
a limited range, as it it not found desirable to transport the fluid too great a 
distance. Coming pure from the farms, it might become butter if indulged 
with too long a ride. The great bulk of the supply for Chicago comes from 
Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry counties, the famous Fox River valley 
furnishing three-fourths. Throughout these counties are hundreds of splendid 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 19 

farms entirely devoted to dairying, and the milk is either shipped to Chicago 
per rail or sold to the numerous factories where it is manufactured into butter 
and cheese. 

About the year 1860 the number of dairy cows kept had in- 
creased to such an extent that more milk was produced than could be 
handled as such, and with this oversupply came the temporary rise of 
the cheese industry in Illinois. The cooperative system was soon 
inaugurated, and instead of the manufacturer looking for a purchaser, 
the purchaser came to the manufacturer. The Elgin Board of Trade 
was established in 1872, where purchaser and producer could meet 
on middle ground. 

The rivalry between the factories as to the price they would pay 
for milk led to the practise of taking off a little cream. Another 
dealer, in order to meet this kind of competition, would dip off a little 
more; and so on. They added the buttermilk, cooked very slightly, 
salted but little, and hurried up the curing as fast as possible. The 
dealers soon began to complain and there was no longer the great de- 
mand for Illinois cheese. The reputation of Illinois cheese was gone. 
In 1865 Illinois had seventeen cheese factories; this number had in- 
creased to forty-six in 1870. By 1890 many factories were engaged 
in the manufacture of filled cheese, which increased rapidly until 
about 1896, when a law was passed prohibiting filled cheese. Within 
a few months Illinois dropped almost to the bottom as a cheese pro- 
ducing state ; and today there are only about fifteen factories making 
cheese. 

Following closely on the fall of the cheese industry we read of 
the development of the creamery industry; which, in the main, is 
familiar to most of you. About 1870 the inatter of establishing a 
creamery in Elgin began to be discussed, and it was Dr. Joseph Tefft, 
of Elgin, who was instrumental in establishing the first butter factory 
west of the Lakes. It was here, in a factory superintended by J. H. 
Wanzer, with the help of some of the stockholders' wives, that the 
first creamery butter west of the Lakes was made. The second season 
this factory made 80,000 pounds of butter. For a time many factories 
made both butter and cheese; and even now we find, scattered over 
the state, creameries which were originally designed for the dual pur- 
pose of manufacturing both cheese and butter. The second creamery 
was probably that of I. A. Bois, of Marengo. Thus the industry de- 
veloped until in 1883 there were about four hundred factories. In 
1885 one of the first creameries opened in southern Illinois at Sparta. 
From this time on, the industry grew rapidly until 1898, at which 



20 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

time there were over five hundred factories in Illinois. Many of 
these so-called cooperative creameries were established through pro- 
motive schemes directed largely by creamery supply houses. Ninety 
per cent of these plants were financial failures. 

Development in the Field of Dairy Products During 
THE Past Twenty-five Years 

With this background in mind, the developments in the field of 
dairy products during the past twenty-five years constitute a history of 
marvelous growth and achievement, made possible through the com- 
bined effort of business acumen and scientific achievement. Today, 
under the list of dairy products we include : whole milk for drinking 
purposes, condensed milk, dry milk, ice cream, butter and cheese, with 
the respective accessory products or by-products, under which may be 
included perishable soft cheese, dry and condensed buttermilk, milk 
drinks, whey, casein, and casein products. In the period just de- 
scribed, these products were considered as isolated units of the industry, 
having little or nothing in common so far as their manufacture and 
distribution was concerned. Today we think of them and deal with 
them in terms of their respective relationship, determined largely by 
their relative perishability. For instance, if we take a large consum- 
ing center like Chicago and make a study of the dairy activity sur- 
rounding it, we find first a zone producing milk for city consumption. 
Just outside this zone and somewhat overlapping it, we find a zone in 
which the milk produced, together with a portion of the surplus milk 
from the inner zone, goes into condensed milk, powdered milk, and 
ice cream. Farther out, with poorer transportation facilities, yet 
situated in the region of good production, we find the cheese factory; 
and still farther out, in the non-dairy regions, we find the cream pro- 
duced for butter-making purposes. During the period under discus- 
sion, these zones have been gradually pushed out to fill the require- 
ments of a milk supply for our large cities, one effect of which has 
been to crowd the cheese industry out of Illinois territory. 

City Milk 

The providing of our consuming centers with milk for direct 
consumption has grown, during the past twenty-five years, to be a 
tremendous industry. From the small beginning described earlier in 
this paper as P. H. Smith's efforts to furnish milk to the growing city 
of Chicago, the industry has grown to a point where the Nation's milk 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 21 

bills last year totaled about one billion dollars. During the period 
under discussion this growth represents an effort to keep pace with the 
growing population in our consuming centers, rather than any marked 
increase in our per capita consumption. 

Accompanying this enormous growth in the volume of business, 
there has been a corresponding improvement in the handling of the 
product. We have passed from the stage of so-called "dip milk" to 
a highly specialized system, extending from the farm to the consumer, 
under which a thoroly safe, pasteurized product is delivered to the 
consumer's door in an original sterilized container. Thus the city 
milk business has passed out of the hands of the street peddler into 
the hands of large organizations who may justly be called "specialists" 
in this branch of the dairy industry. These advances have been made 
possible largely through the joint effort and cooperation of the pro- 
ducer, the business man, the scientist, boards of health, and machinery 
men. Over twenty years ago the scientist pointed out the relation 
between public health problems and a city's milk supply, and today 
our whole program of milk distribution is built around the one idea 
that the consumer must have an adequate supply of healthful milk at a 
reasonable price. The real milk man has been shaping his business 
with this one idea in mind. His efforts are represented : First, by 
consistent field work in the country looking toward an improved sup- 
ply. Here he has been assisted materially by the scientist, who has 
furnished not only the standards but also the means for measuring the 
quality, so far as this can be done. Second, nothing that modern 
skill or science could suggest has been left undone in the plant toward 
the turning out of the very highest quality product. In fact, there 
is no food today surrounded by so many precautions as is our modern 
milk supply. Probably no greater single development for the handling 
of milk has been accomplished than the invention of our modern equip- 
ment for perfect pasteurization, — a process almost universally recog- 
nized as a necessity for a safe milk supply. Here we might justly 
add that the machinery firms have spent millions of dollars in the de- 
velopment of machines, all of which have been periodically junked and 
replaced by something more efficient; until the operation of putting 
the vast quantity of milk through a city plant today, from the re- 
ceiving to the delivery door, represents almost none of what might 
be called "hand labor." Another branch of this same industry, grow- 
ing largely under the direction of the scientist, is the certified milk 
industry, and while I do not wish to dwell on this phase of the subject, 
it is worthy of comment that the first certified milk of which we have 



22 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

any record was that which H. B. Gurler, one of the pioneers in dairy- 
ing, shipped from this state to the Paris Exposition in 1900. 

Like all other developments, the supplying of a city with the 
proper kind of milk has met with its share of opposition, from unin- 
formed doctors, civic organizations, health officials, and politicians; 
but out of it all we are able to define quite clearly the principles upon 
which a sound milk supply should be based. 

The serviceability of these improvements may be summed up 
briefly by saying that milk is today one of the cheapest and one of the 
most accessible of foods for the city dweller, in spite of its perishable 
character ; and an epidemic traceable to milk is almost unheard of. 

The Ice Cream Industry 

The ice cream industry has made its growth in Illinois as well 
as in the United States practically within the last fifteen years, during 
which time it has passed from the one-horse tub freezer stage to an 
industry as highly specialized as the milk industry itself. Earlier 
in this paper it was suggested that for the successful operation of 
plants making dairy products, there is a necessary interdependence, 
brought about by the fact that the milk supply is irregular, yielding a 
tremendous flush of milk during the spring months, with a corres- 
ponding shortage in the winter months. The development of the ice 
cream business, and the condensed and dry-milk industry has done 
much toward equalizing this situation ; thereby bringing a more uni- 
form price to the producers and enabling the manufacturer to handle 
the product of the dairy during the surplus season with less loss than 
was occasioned during the days when all surplus was skimmed for 
butter-making and the skim milk returned to the farm, if possible, or 
run into the sewer. Inventions which have done much toward 
equalization along this line are the emulser, the homogonizer and the 
viscolizer. These machines are constructed for the purpose of emul- 
sifying the fat of butter with fresh skim milk or dissolved dry milk 
to again form cream. This process permits the temporary storing of 
the valuable constituents of milk in a less bulky form until such time 
as they are needed. 

Within the last five years the ice cream industry has passed from 
the ranks of a confection to the ranks of a food product. This im- 
portant transition has come about largely through the combined efforts 
of the manufacturer, the scientist, and the law-maker; which have 
resulted in a standardized wholesome product, well deserving of the 
place which it now holds in the eyes of the consumer. 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 23 

Condensed and Powdered Milk 

The condensed milk industry in this state dates back to 1865. 
Long ago the pioneer dairyman recognized the necessity for some 
means of converting a portion of our spring surplus of milk into 
some product more valuable than either butter or cheese. The answer 
to this demand was found in the condensing process. This branch of 
the industry, like the others described, has reached enormous propor- 
tions. At the present time there are approximately forty plants op- 
erating in Illinois. This industry received a marked stimulus during 
the war, during which time there was an unusual demand for con- 
densed milk. Not only did the condensing plants increase in numbers 
during that time, but those already in existence more than doubled 
their output. The close of the war found both this country and 
Europe heavily overstocked with evaporated milk, — so much so, in 
fact, that during the past two years many plants have been entirely 
closed, waiting for the time when their old stocks would be cleared 
away. 

Another departure which comes well within the period of prog- 
ress under discussion is the development of the powdered-milk in- 
dustry. This is a process by which either whole milk or skim milk 
is reduced to a powdered form containing only the solids of milk. 
The resulting product contains all the valuable constituents of milk 
in a volume which measures only eight per cent of the original milk. 
Dry milk is readily put back into solution and used for drinking pur- 
poses, in baking or in ice cream. This industry is still in its infancy 
and opens a fruitful field for the investigative mind. It should also 
be mentioned in this connection that this same process has been ap- 
plied to buttermilk, resulting in the conservation of millions of gallons 
of this product which were formerly wasted. 

Butter Manufacture 

The manufacture of butter is not usually thought of as one of the 
large dairy-product industries. However, if we take the United 
States as a whole, the value of the butter approximately equals the 
combined value of all other dairy products. When we study the de- 
velopments in the butter industry in our own state during the past 
quarter of a century, we find more significant changes than in any 
other branch of the dairy industry. The two inventions which have 
exerted a major influence in bringing about these changes have been 
the Babcock test and the farm separator. 



24 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Twenty-five years ago the raw material for butter-making was 
delivered by the farmer to the creamery door in the form of whole 
milk, which was skimmed, and the cream churned into butter, for 
which payment was made monthly or semi-monthly. The by-product, 
skim milk, was returned to the farm for pig feed. The introduction 
of the farm separator has revolutionized this branch of the industry. 
The producer was quick to see the economy of a less bulky product, 
in the form of cream, as well as of less frequent deliveries. This 
economy, combined with the fact that the souring of cream does not 
necessarily deteriorate its quality for butter-making purposes, enabled 
the cream to be shipped long distances to the concern w^hich would 
give the best satisfaction. The use of the separator has thus resulted 
in a concentration of the creamery business into a fewer number of 
large, modern plants, where economy of every kind is resorted to, the 
results of which are reflected in the producer's cream check. While 
the amount of butter manufactured in Illinois creameries is more 
than double that of twenty years ago, the number of plants is less 
than one-sixth as great, and sixty per cent of the butter is made in less 
than thirty plants. 

Outside the changes which have taken place in the actual making 
of butter, two very important developments in the productive side of 
the business are worthy of mention. First, in respect to the relation 
between the amount of farm-made butter and creamery butter: 
Twenty-five years ago, the amount of farm-made butter exceeded that 
made in the creamery by three times; in 1910 the Census reported 
46,000 pounds produced on farms and 24,000 pounds in factories ; and 
at the present time this ratio is practically reversed. This is another 
way of saying that by the introduction of the hand separator this 
branch of dairying has been carried to the remote parts of the state ; 
and it is almost a uniform practise, even on our corn-belt farms, to 
keep a few cows, the product of which is shipped in the form of cream 
to some centralizing creamery to be made into butter. Thus the 
creamery industry has converted a comparatively low-priced product, 
"farm butter," into a high-priced product, creamery butter, the bene- 
fit of which largely goes to the producer. As an interesting incident 
in this connection, it may here be noted that the withdrawal of this 
large amount of farm butter from the market has virtually closed 
the plants which formerly made renovated butter. 

On the inside, or in the manufacturing plant, the development 
has been commensurate with the development in the field. Great in- 
stitutions capable of making and marketing millions of pounds of 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 25 

butter at a minimum expense have grown up. These plants have been 
departmentalized, in order to render a maximum service to producer 
and to consumer alike. This means that in the creamery business, 
not only methods of procuring the raw material, methods of handling 
and manufacturing, and great improvements in machinery have been 
developed, but also that the business end of this great enterprise has 
grown from a haphazard practise to a highly specialized system equal 
to any other industry of today. 

As in the milk industry, science has contributed its share to 
modern creamery practise. Many of our large plants today have well 
equipped laboratories with a scientific staff whose duty it is to 
standardize and control plant methods, and conduct research into 
problems bearing on the various phases of the industry. Some of the 
important developments growing out of such studies are: methods 
for determining acidity of cream ; control of acidity of cream ; methods 
of determining moisture and salt and fat content, and means of con- 
trolling them in the finished product; and rapid bacteriological tests 
indicating the efficiency of sanitary measures and pasteurization. It 
may also be of interest to state that one of our large machinery or- 
ganizations characterizes itself as an organization of "dairy engineers," 
and that much of their effort has been spent in making short cuts of 
chemical and bacteriological methods which would reduce these op- 
erations to a basis of every-day plant practise. 

All of this does not mean that our creamery problems are all 
solved ; on the contrary, this new development comes laden with prob- 
lems of both a business and a scientific character. 

Cold Storage Facilities 

Parallel with the development within the industry has been the 
development of cold-storage facilities, a system little understood by the 
consuming public. Often the storage house is described as a recep- 
tacle for hoarding food and its operator as a parasite living off the 
public; but when we realize that one-half of the volume of butter 
produced is produced in three to four months, we cannot fail to rec- 
ognize that the storing of a perishable product like butter is quite as 
desirable as the canning of peaches in the time of plenty for the winter 
supply. In the absence of cold storage, a part of our supply in the 
spring would be almost valueless, and in winter our prices would be 
prohibitive. So the storage house, properly conducted, performs the 
double function of storing and financing our butter surplus. 



26 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Organizations 

In the field under discussion we cannot fail to recognize certain 
agencies outside of the manufacturing plants themselves, which have 
played their part in our progress. I refer to such organizations as 
the National Dairy Council, which, recognizing the fact that our 
dairy products must necessarily be marketed at home, and realizing 
that our production is already up to our consumption, has set out, dur- 
ing the past ten years, on well-planned educational campaigns, looking 
toward the increase in consumption of all dairy products. The 
American Association of Creamery Butter Manufacturers, with Pro- 
fessor McKay as its secretary, has functioned for the whole creamery 
industry for ten years as a clearing house for the many problems which 
have confronted the centralized creamery business. The Association 
of Illinois Butter Manufacturers, which was formed about a dozen 
years ago, has served its purpose in eliminating numerous trade evils 
which seem necessarily to exist in a new-formed industry. The Illinois 
Ice Cream Makers Association has performed a similar service for the 
ice cream industry. 

As has already been suggested at many points in this paper, much 
of the development indicated as having taken place in the last quarter 
of a century has been made possible through the various activities of 
the Agricultural College. This assistance has taken the form of new 
scientific discoveries, the adaptation of chemical and bacteriological 
methods to commercial conditions, the adaptation of scientific business 
principles to a highly specialized industry, and the furnishing of 
trained men for putting these discoveries into execution ; and, finally, 
the College has set a mark to shoot at in respect to the quality of dairy 
products. In fact, so intimately are these contributions woven into 
the whole structure of dairy manufactures that their source is 
scarcely recognized except on occasions of this kind when we are tak- 
ing inventories. In closing, it should be said that the dairy industry, 
as never before, is looking to the Agricultural College for assistance 
in the solution of its problems as well as for the training of its men, 
and there is no doubt that when the resume of the activities of the 
dairy industry is written for the next twenty-five years, it will contain 
in large letters the name of the Agricultural College. 




DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 

J. C. Blair, Professor of Horticulture 

I HE HORTICULTURAL developments of our state started 
with the organization of the State Horticultural Society 
in 1864, and the opening of the Illinois Industrial Univer- 
sity in 1867, when instruction in horticulture and botany 
was made a regular part of the program of state education. 
The progress made during the first quarter-century of 
this time was slow, both as regards the commercial development and 
educational developments in horticulture. Of course, the commercial 
development has been largely the outgrowth of the educational ad- 
vancements which have taken place through the state organizations 
and the State University. 

In 1877, ten years after the University had started, nine students 
were registered in the horticultural courses; and eighteen students, 
including the special students, in agriculture. The total appropria- 
tion for the Horticultural Department was seventy dollars and re- 
ceipts for that year netted not quite three hundred dollars. At this 
time, be it remembered, and for many years to come the College of 
Agriculture was divided into two schools, the School of Agriculture 
and the School of Horticulture. The object of the School of Horti- 
culture was to afford a scientific and practical education specially 
adapted to the wants of those who cultivated garden and orchard 
plants, or wished to manage nurseries, parks, and pleasure grounds. 
The instruction was both theoretical and practical. The classroom 
recitations and lectures were supplemented by practise in the fields and 
plant houses. The technical studies pursued were : elements of horti- 
culture ; pomology and forestry ; plant houses and management ; land- 
scape gardening; floriculture; and horticultural history and rural 
law. 

It was not until 1896, with the reorganization and reestablish- 
ment of the College of Agriculture at the University, that horticulture 
was truly given that impetus which would justify its place as a perma- 
nent factor in any system of state agricultural development. It is 
therefore simply to the last twenty-five years of our history that we 
look for any record of real achievement. 

Conditions Twenty-five Years Ago 

Twenty-five years ago with a large acreage in the state devoted 
to orchard fruits, small fruits, and vegetables, and with almost no 

27 



28 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

development in floriculture and landscape gardening, the cultivation, 
pruning, and spraying of orchard trees was wholly unknown. Indeed, 
at that time, it was thought that there never would be need for the 
spraying of — even apple trees. True, apple scab fungus had been 
studied, and some suggestions for its control had been made. But, 
as late as 1896 not much attention w^as given it in the department 
curriculum, in which were offered the following courses: orcharding 
and grape culture; plant propagation and small fruits; vegetable 
gardening ; forestry ; landscape gardening ; economic botany ; special 
investigation and thesis work. Two graduate courses: studies in 
combating fungus, insect and other enemies of plants, including spray 
materials and methods; studies in plant breeding, hybridization, and 
self- and cross-fertilization. But, according to the report of the 
President to the Board of Trustees: "The Horticultural Department 
had been busy in removing useless trees and hedges, renovating 
orchards and sod, trimming borders, repairing walks and drives, and 
in giving things a general air of tidiness. In the spring, plantings of 
small fruits will add to the attractiveness of the gardens and be in a 
sense something of an experiment. The possibilities of straightening 
trees that had commenced to lean to one side is being tested." It is 
interesting to note that by the next year (1897) the plantings of vari- 
eties of small fruits had been extended, and more careful investigations 
were made into the results of spraying. 

During the years 1895 and 1896, not more than three knapsack 
sprayers were in use in the state. One of these was used by George W. 
Endicott, for spraying his vines at Villa Ridge, one by the Depart- 
ment of Horticulture at the University, and the other by Worthen 
in his grape growing in the Navoo region. The first spraying with 
a barrel-pump was done by the writer in the orchard of Valentine 
J. Kiem, near Quincy, November 11, 12, and 13, 1896. The first 
knowledge of the presence of San Jose scale in the state of Illinois 
was had upon the examination by the State Entomologist of some twigs 
sent in by Mr. Kiem. The spray material used in this first work 
against the San Jose scale was whale-oil soap, in a hot solution 
prepared by dissolving two pounds of soap in one gallon of water. 
The following spring (1897) permission was granted the writer to 
carry on experiments for the control of apple scab and codling moth 
in the orchard of H. M. Dunlap, at Savoy. This work was con- 
tinued for a series of years and the results published annually in the 
transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Society and in the 
Experiment Station reports. 



DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 29 

Within the year 1898, a representative of the Department had 
visited nearly two hundred fruit plantations in forty-seven counties 
of the state for the purpose of studying the horticultural conditions. 
A practical demonstration of the methods of spraying was made in 
Johnson county, at the time of the meeting of the Southern Illinois 
Horticultural Society. The exhibition created great interest and 
elicited many questions. Many requests came in for its repetition ; 
but expenses made this impossible. Another subject that occupied a 
great deal of attention at this time w^as orchard cultivation. During 
the school term there was taught the "largest class in horticulture ever 
in the University; namely, fourteen students, besides those of the 
Winter School." Two publications, one on "Orchard Cultivation," 
and the other, "Spraying Fruit Trees," were issued at this time. 

Developments in Pomology 

The most pressing problems in fruit production in Illinois have 
been those affecting the control of insect and fungous pests, and the 
regulation of the supply of plant food. The early problem in orchard- 
ing, therefore, was largely that of protection. It is estimated that 
the commercial apple crop of Illinois amounts to more than ten 
million dollars annually, exclusive of the fruit sold locally from farm 
orchards. Without the protection afforded by spraying, insect and 
fungous attack would no doubt make apple growing in Illinois an 
impossibility. In the year 1898, the loss from apple scab alone 
amounted to $3,500,000; while by 1900 bitter rot had gained such 
headway that the annual loss due to that disease alone, was estimated 
at $1,500,000. 

In 1901, Illinois ranked third in horticultural importance, with 
a larger apple acreage than any other state in the Union. Owing to 
the great loss from bitter rot the preceding year, and the fact that 
nothing was known about the, disease, orchardists were altogether 
helpless before its ravages. The Experiment Station, realizing 
the great need for help, inaugurated experimental work in twelve 
orchards throughout the state to study a means of control for this 
fungous disease. At the close of the first year's experimental work 
good progress had been made but the fact remained that much was 
yet to be done before the problems connected with the disease could 
be considered solved. A brief circular describing the discovery and 
giving prompt advice to growers was issued and further tests and 
information were published about fourteen days later (July 15 and 
29. 1901). 



30 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

About the same time the problem of fruit storage came up for 
investigation. Fruit storage is a most important problem, especially 
for the apple growers in Illinois, because of its direct bearing on the 
profit of their business. Storage facilities in Chicago were perhaps 
three hundred thousand barrels, and in the state six hundred thousand 
barrels; yet this was entirely inadequate to meet the need. In order 
to investigate this problem, a storage house was built at Neoga, and 
storage cellars at Olney, Champaign, and Savoy. 

Experiments in spraying for the control of apple blotch, con- 
ducted in 1913, showed that from twenty-five to fifty per cent of the 
crop could be saved from apple blotch in severely infested orchards; 
experiments in 1916 showed that ninety per cent of the fruit might 
be saved from this disease; and further experiments in 1917 and 
1918 have confirmed the above results. Investigations have further 
shown that spraying with the proper materials at the proper time will 
save from fifteen to twenty-five per cent of fruit from codling moth ; 
and it has also been shown that from twenty-five to fifty per cent can 
be saved from apple scab. The Illinois Station has experimented 
and published more extensively on spraying for the control of apple 
pests than has any other experiment station. 

The most significant problem in orcharding is production : in- 
creased planting and increased yield. Experiments inaugurated in a 
large commercial orchard at Neoga in 1913, showed as a result of five 
years' work that the addition of nitrogen to the soil in the form of 
sodium nitrate, stable manure, and leguminous green manures, had 
increased the yield of apples by twenty-seven barrels per annum. 
Practically all bearing orchards in Illinois need fertilizing. From 
the fertilization of peaches even more significant results have been 
obtained on the farm at Olney. Altho the peach orchard was only 
four years old (planted in 1916), and bore its first crop in 1920, the 
best fertilized plot yielded at the rate of 125 bushels per acre more 
than the poorest unfertilized plot.' This same plot yielded 204 
bushels more per acre than another plot (not the poorest) which had 
been cultivated and fertilized according to the methods in vogue in the 
cultivation of this fruit. Ten acres of land and twelve hundred trees 
were used in this experiment. Increasing the yields of the suitably 
located peach orchards of Illinois by such increases as were obtained 
in the experiments above described would mean an additional profit 
of $700,000 to $1,500,000 to the industry, in all favorable seasons. 

In a bulletin of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (No. 767) 
by the Fruit Crop Specialist, Bureau of Crop Estimates, we find the 



DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 31 

following statement: "From the standpoint of total production, Illi- 
nois leads all the Middle Western States, and its summer apple region 
in the southern part of the state is one of the most important in the 
United States. In Illinois, as in all Middle Western States, the 
question of sprayed and unsprayed acreage is important in considering 
the commercial apple industry, especially since so many one-time com- 
mercial orchards all through the Middle West have been left un- 
sprayed and uncared for, and are rapidly losing their commercial im- 
portance. However, a more recent revival of interest is responsible 
for greater care being given to the remaining orchards, and an 
important place is being assured for Middle West apples." 

The first great Illinois Apple Show was held November 19 to 
23, 1918, at the Morrison Hotel, Chicago, being promoted by the 
Illinois State Horticultural Society and held under the auspices of 
the State Council of Defense. Since that time many excellent horti- 
cultural shows have been held in connection with county and state 
fairs and in many of our large commercial centers. 

In 1917 and 1918, investigations were made on drying apples in 
a convenient and attractive form, and a new and successful process 
was developed and described. This study indicates that the apple may 
be preserved for long periods of time in a form superior to ordinary 
dried apples. This experiment, tho important in itself, also opened up 
a very large field for research and investigation on the utilization of 
fruit by-products and on the manufacture of various products di- 
rectly from fruits themselves. Laboratories for further prosecution 
of this and similiar lines of investigation and for teaching are now 
nearing completion as a result of an appropriation of $260,000 by the 
last General Assembly. 

In 1899 there were, in Illinois. 16,794 acres devoted to small 
fruits, valued at $13,602,676; in 1919 there were 11,723 acres valued 
at $1,109,747 ; and in 1920 we find 11,215 acres valued at $2,064,524. 

Through the encouragement given the originator (Reverend 
Reasoner) by the Department of Horticulture, the original Dunlap 
strawberry plants were saved for further test and propagation. The 
Dunlap variety, which originated at Urbana, was introduced in 1900, 
but had been under observation by Burrill and Blair since 1896. It 
is the leading variety grown in the North-Central states; it is very 
hardy and productive, and the most resistant to disease. It is suc- 
cessfully grown over a larger range of territory than any horticul- 
tural variety yet introduced. 



32 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Developments in Olericulture 

There is another phase of the agricultural development of the 
state, particularly the southern third, that is of even greater im- 
portance than the orchard interests. Reference is made to the veg- 
etable industry. The value of the annual vegetable crop in Illinois 
exceeds sixteen million dollars. Among the states of the Union, 
Illinois ranks fourth in value of vegetables produced. 

In the spring of 1900 a campaign for the improvement of home 
vegetable gardens on Illinois farms w^as started. A demonstration 
garden was planted, and was maintained for five years. This served, 
not only as a model for students and for visitors at the University, 
but furnished data for two publications showing the large profit that 
may be secured from a properly managed garden on the farm. Labor- 
saving methods of planting and tillage were employed. The garden 
as a factor in food production for the Illinois farmers' family is now 
admitted to be of much more importance than it was considered 
twenty-five years ago. The University has had a large part in the 
shaping of this sentiment. 

In 1907, at a time when the melon industry of the state was 
threatened with destruction by the fungous disease commonly called 
"rust," the Department introduced the rust-resistant type of musk- 
melon among Illinois growers. This type of melon has now become 
the dominant one used by commercial growers, and has made it pos- 
sible to continue growing melons where the old types have entirely 
failed. 

Better methods of grading, packing, and marketing fruits and 
vegetables, have been consistently aided by the Department. Bulletin 
124, issued in 1908, contained the first descriptions of grades of musk- 
melons ever issued in America, and the first definite directions for the 
proper packing of basket melons of different sizes. In 1910, after 
five years of experimental work, spraying was announced as a definite 
method of controlling the leaf spot of tomatoes. The working out 
of this method of control for this disease is a distinct contribution to 
the means of maintaining a healthful food supply for the Nation. 
After five years of experimental work with muskmelons, an economical 
yet efficient method of fertilizing this crop was reported in 1912. In 
1914, the results of six years of experimental work with onions was 
reported. Of special importance was the account of the growing of 
ripe onions from sets. This method of producing dry onions had 
been given practically no attention previous to these experiments. Its 
advantages were clearly shown by the results obtained ; and now the 



DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 33 

method has been quite generally adopted by market gardeners for the 
production of an early crop. As a result of careful selections 
through a series of years, in 1917 two wilt- resistant strains of toma- 
toes were secured. These strains were developed in the badly infested 
regions of southern Illinois, where the wilt had become a serious 
menace to tomato culture, and have proved remarkably resistant to 
this disease, wherever grown. The use of these strains for avoiding 
loss from wilt, and spraying for control of leaf spot make it possible 
to grow good crops of tomatoes under adverse conditions. 

Developments in Floriculture 

Floriculture is certainly the most attractive division of the sub- 
ject of horticulture, as well as the most important commercially, tak- 
ing the country at large, but its difficulties and problems probably 
outnumber those of any of the other divisions. When one considers 
the fact that its operations are carried on, not only in the open, but 
under the most exacting conditions in glass houses, one is confronted 
with the fact that here arises a new set of problems demanding con- 
sideration and solution. In 1899, Illinois had not quite seven hundred 
acres of land devoted to flowering plants, valued at $1,894,960. 
Looking at the Census report for 1910, with its 1,339 acres of Illi- 
nois land devoted to flowers; and then in 1920, with 19,626,091 
square feet under glass and valued at $9,987,606 ; it will be seen that 
the development in floriculture in Illinois has been a very rapid one. 
In 1907, the Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, placed Illinois 
as first in the area under glass devoted to commercial flower growing. 
The retail value of flowers and plants sold in Illinois increased from 
nearly three million dollars in 1900 to four and one-half million 
in 1905. 

In the floricultural development at the University of Illinois, 
some very important results have been obtained in the investigations 
with fertilizers in their relation to the production of cut flowers. 
From a three-year project on the effect of acid phosphate, it was 
found that production can be increased in a profitable way. An in- 
crease of five per cent in the production both of carnations and of 
roses, resulted from the application of fertilizers; bulletins have been 
issued covering these results. From experimental studies made to 
test the effect of using the same soil in the benches continuously for 
several years, it was found that the plants grown on the second-year 
soil were in every way as productive as on new soil. Since 1917, the 
study with carnations and rose plants to determine the elifects of se- 



34 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

lection upon production have been continued. Such study as has been 
made to determine the possibility of eliminating certain physiological 
diseases from greenhouse crops by means of plant selection, indicates 
success by this method. 

Developments in Plant Breeding 

In plant breeding results are slow, for they are contingent upon 
the fruiting of hybrid progeny. In crossing hybrids, two difficulties 
are encountered ; namely, obtaining the desired pollen at the right 
time, and sterility of many of the hybrids. The appearance and 
performance of first generation seedlings serve in some degree to indi- 
cate the vitality of parent plants and the stability of their characters. 
For this reason, effort centers upon production of second-generation 
seedlings for as many of the more promising groups of hybrids as 
possible. 

Apple hybridizing was begun in 1909, since which time nearly 
fifty thousand Howers have been pollinated. Tvv^enty-three per cent 
of these pollinations have been successful, that is, fruits have matured 
and been halvcsted. There are 814 different groups of hybrids repre- 
sented. The same varieties and species, tho often not the same indi- 
viduals, are used year after year. The seedlings range in age from 
one to twelve years. Fruits from sixty-eight hybrid seedlings possess 
sufficient merit to warrant propagation and further trial. These trees 
vary, in season of fruit maturity, from early summer to late winter; 
each is a potential nev/ variety; these are being tested with reference 
to productiveness and to the keeping quality of the fruit. 

Developments in Landscape Gardening 

As early as 1868 a course in landscape gardening is mentioned 
as part of the work in horticulture. In 1869, the Third Annual Cir- 
cular of the Illinois Industrial University, announces that the "School 
of Horticulture will include the formation, management, and care of 
gardens, hotbeds, orchards, tree plantations, and ornamental grounds." 
By 1871 there had been mapped out a much more complete course 
of study, and we find for the junior year, second term, a course in 
garden architecture; third term, "landscape gardening," with the 
illuminating remark that "Ladies and gentlemen alike engage in the 
studies and exercises of the course." Five years later, the circular an- 
nounces that "Eleven weeks are devoted to the study of 'Landscape 
Gardening.' " But since only twenty-four men were registered in the 



DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 35 

entire "School of Agriculture" and two in the "School of Horticul- 
ture," it is doubtful if much of value was worked out. 

In 1888, landscape gardening was taught during the spring term 
by lectures and practical work. After a study of the materials, in- 
cluding grass, trees, flowers, substances used for walks, drives, fences, 
and other architectural features, the method of designing and drawing 
plans was taken up and put into practise. In 1895, a course 
"Gardens" was announced. A year later the writer was appointed 
instructor in horticulture, and again a course in landscape gardening 
was offered. This was described as a course on "Ornamental and 
landscape gardens," with reference to the treatment of home sur- 
roundings. It was not until 1904 that the exigencies of the case 
seemed to demand a special instructor to teach landscape gardening. 
In 1907 and 1908 five new courses were added, and in 1912 there 
was sufficient demand for the work to launch landscape gardening as 
a separate division. The significant thing is that the University of 
Illinois now has the leading department of landscape gardening in 
the country, both as to variety and character of the work offered and 
as to number of students enrolled. 

Many of the pioneers in Illinois advocated and practised the 
planting of other than fruit trees, but only for shelter and timber — 
not in an ornamental way. Public parks were unknown. Some 
towns or villages had a public square upon which there was built, or 
to be built at some future date, a county courthouse or the like, and 
here a few maples or elms were usually planted. On school grounds, 
if anything was done at all, a few forest trees were planted. The 
attempts of the housewife for beautification in this new country were 
very simple. Rapid development, however, was destined to take 
place. Towns and cities sprang up almost as if over night; and it is 
here that we look for the earliest development of ornamental horti- 
culture, landscape gardening, and adornment of home grounds. The 
real effort in landscape development was ushered in with the coming 
to our state of the great Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 
1893. It was the tireless work of Olmsted, and later, of quite a few 
distinguished artists, that planned and opened a way for new realiza- 
tions in our parks and other made-landscapes. They gave the world 
a vision of supreme beauty, which was to be the inspiration of the 
century and its most priceless gift to the coming days, in an artistic 
sense. The Exposition aroused the pride and spirit of cities through- 
out the Middle West. A few years later Chicago instituted a com- 
mission to consider a plan for the development of the city, and to es- 



36 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

tablish playgrounds. This work is now progressing rapidly. 

Landscape development was also fostered by the desire of his- 
torical associations to preserve for future generations the old land- 
marks in Illinois history. The restoration of the "rocks" along the 
Rock river, lake bluffs, river banks, ravines, sand dunes, and bits of 
natural woods was carried on. The Illinois Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution made possible the restoration of the 
old Fort Massac, located on the Ohio River near Metropolis, Illinois. 
The planning and the execution of this work was done by the speaker. 
It seems safe to say that much of the rapidity of development in land- 
scape gardening, in its various phases, is due to the combination of the 
theoretical and the practical. In the professional field many of our 
graduates have been real influences in the building of a better and 
more beautiful Middle West. 

All organizations and state agencies, including the University, 
should do everything in their power to make our farms, our country 
places, beautiful as well as economically and efficiently arranged and 
more healthful places in which to live. The coming generations, as 
well as the present, have a right to expect this. With further ex- 
pansion of our horticultural developments, Illinois will shortly be the 
most beautiful country in the world. It is essentially a horticultural 
state, where all sorts of horticultural products reach their highest de- 
velopment. The agriculture of the future will be more intensive ag-^ 
riculture and less extensive. This means small and better developed 
farms, with a richer, more healthful and beautiful home life. I am 
glad to have had a part in the developments of the past, some of which 
have been briefly touched upon here ; and it is my earnest desire to 
further in any way possible future progress in horticulture. 



THE WORK OF THE AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION 

L. H. Smith, Chief in Charge of Publications of the Soil Survey 




T IS my privilege to review the M^ork of this Experiment 
Station since its foundation and to present briefly its out- 
standing accomplishments. The Illinois Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station v^^as organized in 1888. For a record of 
its achievement one naturally turns to its published re- 
ports. I find that during the thirty-four years of its ex- 
istence there have been published 237 Bulletins and 19 Soil Reports, 
aggregating altogether 9,806 pages of printed matter. This may, for 
present purposes, be taken as a quantitative measure of its scientific 
output. I am sure you will appreciate the compound problem that I 
have before me; first, in selecting from this array of material that 
which is most significant, and second, in presenting the same in the 
allotted time. : 

Following the custom of the experiment station investigator to 
do his work, as well as his thinking, within somewhat discreet units 
known as "departments," I have decided to take up the consideration 
before us somewhat on the departmental plan. For our purpose, how- 
ever, we need not make our departments quite so "watertight" as 
critics of the system have sometimes implied it to be. Therefore, for 
convenience in considering all this experimental work that covers such 
a wide range of subjects, suppose we take up these investigations under 
the following groups: soils, plants, animals, and farm organization. 
This system is suflSciently comprehensive, and it would seem to be a 
logical one, for first, we must have the soil in order to grow plants ; 
then we must have the plants in order to raise animals; and finally, 
there should be some sort of a correlating agency, such as a department 
of farm organization. Moreover, this grouping has an advantage for 
the particular purpose in hand, over one based upon the existing plan 
of departmental organization, in that much of the past work that we 
are to consider was not done by the departments as they now exist; 
and it would not be altogether fair for them to assume either the 
credit or the responsibility. 

Soil Investigations 

Taking up that subject first that lies at the foundation of all pro- 
duction, let us make a hasty survey of those investigations pertaining 
to the soil. 

37 



38 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

This Experiment Station was so fortunate as to inherit at its 
birth the oldest soil experiment field in America. The series of plots 
now known as the Morrow plots had been laid out by Professor 
George E. Morrow and had been running about a decade previous to 
the founding of the Experiment Station. Who would be bold enough 
to attempt to assess the value of these old plots ? The records of all 
these years show, on the one hand, how this rich prairie soil of Illinois 
can be abused through improper management; or on the other hand, 
how it can be built up by proper treatment. For example, in 1919 
the old untreated continuous-corn plot at one end of the series yielded 
twenty-eight bushels of corn, while the plot at the other end that has 
been fertilized and kept under a favorable crop rotation gave seventy 
bushels, — and forty-one years before this, these two plots lay in the 
same field. 

Another set of plots on the University campus, forming a more 
extensive series, but of more recent origin, are the Davenport plots 
laid out by Dean Davenport about twenty-five years ago. Both the 
Morrow and the Davenport series, as we now see them, are what is 
left of a much larger original layout. In both cases the plots have 
been reduced in number with the demands of campus developments. 
Thousands of farmers every year witness the lessons in soil manage- 
ment as they visit these plots. It would seem that whatever else is 
changed on this campus, these old plots should be preserved for the 
benefit of the generations to follow. 

It was in the year 1900 that Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins was appointed 
to the chair of agronomy and took up his great life work in the study 
of soils, and at about this time the state made its first generous approp- 
riation of a special fund for soils investigations. In pursuing the in- 
vestigations of the soils of Illinois three main lines of procedure were 
inaugurated ; namely, the soil survey, field experiments, and pot cul- 
ture investigations. In the soil survey the various kinds or types of 
soil are classified and mapped in such a manner that when the survey 
is complete every landowner in the state will have a description of the 
soil on his farm, will know approximately its composition, and will 
have at hand information relating to its maintenance and improve- 
ment. This work has progressed so that now eighty counties of the 
state have been mapped and published reports for nineteen counties 
have been issued. 

Field experiments, serving for investigation as well as for dem- 
onstration, were undertaken on the more important types of soil. The 
number of these fields has increased until there are at present about 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION 39 

forty distributed on different soil types over the state. On these fields 
such problems as relate to plant-food requirements, proper systems 
of crop rotation, drainage, prevention of soil erosion, subsoiling, and 
dynamiting are being investigated. As an indication of the growth 
in popularity of these fields it may be said that when this work first 
started it was difficult to obtain land for the purpose, sometimes even 
by offering a fair rental price, but after a few of these fields had been 
established and had begun to demonstrate their value, the popularity 
of this work grew to such an extent that finally the University came 
into the position of being able to demand some form of permanent 
tenure, either by deed or by permanent lease, before it would accept a 
piece of land for these experimental purposes. 

A System of Permanent Fertility 

As the results of his investigations accumulated. Dr. Hopkins 
gradually evolved a philosophy or doctrine of soil fertility intended to 
apply to the normal soils of Illinois and of similar areas. His domi- 
nant idea was to provide a system of soil fertility that would result in 
a permanent agriculture. He recognized that the continual removal 
of crops from the land must finally lead to soil exhaustion unless the 
materials taken from the soil be restored. The common practise of 
applying commercial fertilizers returns to the soil some of the neces- 
sary elements, but not in amounts proportionate to the quantities re- 
moved by crops, thus producing the effect of a stimulation of the soil 
rather than that of a sufficient supply of plant food. By restoring 
the elements to the soil somewhat in excess of the amounts in which 
they are removed by cropping, the soil is not only maintained in its 
natural fertility but is actually built up and made more productive. 
In order to accomplish this effect the elements must be secured in the 
most economic form, which ordinarily calls for raw materials rather 
than those that are treated or manufactured. Thus in ordinary crop- 
ping systems, raw rock phosphate should be used and the natural bio- 
logical process of the soil will make the phosphorus available. Nitro- 
gen should be secured from the air through the growth of legume 
crops. Potassium is abundant in most normal soils and the problem 
of supplying this element is usually a matter of liberation from the 
minerals naturally present in the soil rather than the addition of pot- 
assium salts. In order that these natural biological processes may 
function properly, the soil must be kept supplied with an excess of 
basic material, and for this purpose natural crushed limestone serves 
best. 



40 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

This is an attempt at a very brief statement of the fundamental 
or guiding principles of Dr. Hopkins' proposition of a permanent sys- 
tem of agriculture. There are hundreds of deviations in details, 
most of which are yet to be worked out. Such details will vary with 
different types of soil ; they will vary with the kind of enterprise fol- 
lowed, whether grain farming, live-stock farming, or fruit farming; 
they will vary with different economic situations, such, for example, 
as affect the accessibility and the cost of different forms of fertilizing 
materials. And so, while we may consider that the great idea of a 
permanent system of agriculture, and the fundamental principles for 
carrying it out, may be counted among the finished problems of this 
Station, in reality the work on this problem is only well begun. The 
foundation is laid, so to speak, but the great super-structure is yet to 
be erected before Illinois agriculture as a whole shall be actually upon 
a permanent basis. 

One of the chief questions among these unsettled problems is how 
to maintain the nitrogen supply and this has been the subject of much 
study. As an example along this line, a discovery of greatest practical 
importance was made when it was found that the organism acting on 
the roots of sweet clover also inoculates the alfalfa plant. This has 
been followed by similar discoveries relating to the bacteria of other 
legumes. The most recent investigations of the division of soil biology 
are revealing very practical knowledge of the most advantageous ways 
of handling legume crops looking toward the solution of this great 
nitrogen problem. Numerous other investigations under way look- 
ing toward the solution of many of these unanswered soil problems 
might be mentioned if time permitted. 

Plant Production 

Turning now to that phase of our discussion that has to do with 
plant production, let us consider next some of the work relating to 
field crops. 

The introduction of properly adapted varieties, especially in corn, 
has been a large factor in improved production. The attention paid 
in recent years to the vitality of the seed must also have had a tre- 
mendous influence in this direction. 

In corn breeding this experiment station was a pioneer. The 
long-time selection experiments in corn to change the composition of 
the grain have attracted world-wide attention. This investigation 
has been continued through twenty-five generations of breeding, with 
unbroken pedigree records, and the result has been a most remarkable 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION 41 

response to the selection. Starting with a single variety of ordinary 
field corn, four different kinds have been created, one of which is now 
about twice as rich in protein as another, while another strain now 
carries about five times as much oil as its corresponding opposite. 

As another example of the possibility of improving our field crops 
through the methods of plant breeding, may be cited the production of 
the new variety of wheat designated as Turkey 10-110. This wheat 
is the progeny of a single mother plant found in a field of common 
Turkey Red in 1910. Following its favorable performance in the 
breeding plots, where, as a six year average, it outyielded the parent 
variety by six bushels per acre, the strain has been increased and thous- 
ands of bushels of seed are now being distributed about the state in 
those sections to which it is found to be adapted. 

For the introduction of certain valuable new crops, the Experi- 
ment Station has been largely responsible. Among these crops that 
have been established in Illinois may be mentioned the soybean 
and sweet clover, while the sunflower promises to take an importnat 
place as a silage crop. Sweet clover deserves, perhaps, more than a 
passing mention; for, in the mind of the writer, the introduction of 
this remarkable plant marks an epoch in Illinois agriculture in the 
sense that we have adopted a plant that not only possesses great value 
as a forage crop but also one that, when properly handled, goes a long 
way toward solving the nitrogen problem. 

As an outcome of some of the earlier investigations and the sub- 
sequent propaganda throughout the state, we have the improved prac- 
tise of the shallow cultivation of corn, as against the old "root- 
butchering" method of deep cultivation. It is doubtless true that to 
this one thing alone Illinois and other corn-growing states are in- 
debted for millions of bushels of corn annually in increased yields. 
Many other important experiments having to do with the planting, 
cultivation, and harvesting of our common farm crops would be well 
worthy of mention here if the opportunity permitted. 

Horticultural Crops 

In the production of our horticultural crops, which include the 
fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants, many investigations parallel 
to those described in field crops have been carried out. To give some 
idea of the extent of the activities along this line, it may be said that 
nearly fifty bulletins have been issued covering a wide range of topics 
related to one phase or another of horticultural production. Fertilizer 
experiments have been conducted in the orchard, in the garden, and 



42 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

in the greenhouse ; varieties have been tested ; the cultivation of orch- 
ards has been investigated ; systems of garden planting have been tried 
out. In plant breeding, very extensive investigations in the breeding 
of fruit trees are under way. As products of this work an instructive 
bulletin on "Apple Bud Selection" and another on "Seed Production 
in Apples" have been published. 

As might be expected, a very large volume of the work with these 
horticultural crops has had to do with their protection from diseases 
and insects. For this work the Illinois Experiment Station has been 
peculiarly fortunate in having had the life-long service of two of the 
foremost scientists — indeed, world authorities in their respective fields 
— who have devoted themselves to a study of plant protection from 
bacterial and fungous diseases, on the one hand, and from insect 
ravages on the other. Hundreds of appreciative farmers from all 
over Illinois as well as from other states honor this grand team of 
workers — Thomas Jonathan Burrill and Stephen Alfred Forbes. 

To Dr. Burrill is given the credit for that great scientific dis- 
covery that certain plant diseases are caused by bacterial organisms. 
It is natural that under such leadership a strong development of this 
line of work should occur. It is interesting to note in this connection 
that thirty-four years ago this Station published a bulletin entitled 
"A Bacterial Disease of Corn" written by Dr. Burrill. Within the 
past few years there has been a great revival of interest in corn dis- 
eases and today "the air is full of talk," on this subject. Likewise 
many years ago Dr. Forbes began his observations on the insect 
pests that ravish our crops, and this early work has been followed by 
that splendid series of studies covering the insect depredations of the 
various classes of our economic crops, the grain and hay crops as well 
as the fruit crops. 

Thus it has come about that the investigation of orchard spraying 
for protection from diseases and insect pests has loomed large in the 
program of our horticultural staff. This work may be briefly sum- 
marized in a quotation taken from a recent report. 

"Experiments to determine the best methods of controlling in- 
sects and diseases attacking apple orchards have been conducted in a 
systematic manner for the last twenty years, and the results of these 
experiments have been the chief source of information upon which the 
apple growers of the state have, depended for guidance in their spray- 
ing operations. A definite spray program has been prepared which 
has helped very materially in putting apple growing on a paying basis 
in Illinois. The commercial apple crop of the state is valued at ap- 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION 43 

proximately $10,000,000 annually, and at a very conservative estimate 
at least one-third of this value may be attributed directly to the ap- 
plication of the protective measures based upon the experimental work 
of the Experiment Station." 

Animal Production 

Investigations pertaining to the production of live stock has had 
a large place in the Station's affairs from the beginning. In fact the 
very first bulletin put out reporting the results of an investigation vi^as 
on the subject of ensilage. This has been followed by more elaborate 
studies, increasing in intricacy according to the demands of developing 
knowledge. During the years under our consideration great changes 
have taken place in scientific thought relative to food values in re- 
lation to composition. We take pride in the progressiveness of our 
nutrition investigators in keeping up with the procession of changing 
ideas. They have run the whole gamut of these new ideas, from 
enzymes and special proteids, to vitamines ; and we find their bulletins 
always making real, up-to-date contributions to the knowledge of their 
day. In the later experiments on feeding, no little consideration has 
been given to critical studies of methods used and analysis of results 
obtained, the importance of which is coming more and more to be 
recognized in all kinds of scientific research. (I cannot refrain from 
taking opportunity at this point to observe that if our Experiment Sta- 
tion work is to carry the stamp of thoroness and reliability, the 
public must exercise some patience at times in awaiting results that 
must first be scrutinized for scientific accuracy by the best methods 
known to science before they are given out for publication.) 

The improvement of live stock through breeding has also re- 
ceived attention, and many splendid specimens of their respective 
classes have been produced. Through the establishment of a division 
of genetics, thorogoing investigations have been undertaken to learn 
the fundamental principles underlying the art of breeding. Just so 
far as these genetic principles are discovered and applied, just that 
much will the breeding art be advanced. 

A most practical experiment in the breeding of cattle to learn 
the genetic behavior of the milk-producing functions of the dairy cow 
is now in progress, and the information to be derived from these ex- 
periments must have a far-reaching effect upon the future dairy in- 
dustry. 



44 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

A division of animal pathology has only very recently been es- 
tablished. However, its influence has already been felt, not only 
within the state, but throughout the country. The importance of its 
investigations of the botulism disease, which has resulted in the saving 
of human lives as well as of animals, has attracted widespread pub- 
licity. 

As among the most appreciated investigations of the Station, be- 
cause of its direct practical significance to the live-stock industry of 
the country, must be mentioned the work reported in that fine series 
of bulletins dealing with the market grades and classes and of the 
various kinds of live stock: horses, cattle, swine, and sheep. This 
work has been of untold value in bringing order out of what was 
formerly chaos in the marketing of live stock. 

The dairy cow came in early, and has remained through the years, 
for a large share of the Station's attention. The long series of in- 
vestigations on the individuality among cows as to milk production, 
with the propaganda against the "boarder cow" has had a profound 
effect on the dairy industry. It has led to that modern device for 
dairy improvement known as the cow-testing association, and "boarder 
cows" by the hundreds are being led to the shambles. 

Another activity for the benefit of the dairy industry has been the 
incessant war waged against unclean and unsanitary milk. Mention 
should also be made here of the studies in the economics of milk pro- 
duction, for the data stand as a source of information not alone for 
the dairyman but also for the benefit of the general public in the 
solution of problems pertaining to its economic welfare. 

Farm Organization 

We come to the last of the divisions of our discussion ; namely, 
farm organization. The department representing this work in the 
Experiment Station is still very young; nevertheless, it was "well 
born" and got into action promptly, so that it is already making con- 
tributions for the solution of those agricultural problems that lie 
within its province. Its studies in cost accounting have been of 
direct value in leading to better methods of land valuation. They 
have also been helpful in developing plans looking toward the stabili- 
zation of markets. A special study has been made in comparing 
tractors and horses as sources of farm power. As time goes on, the 
agricultural public will look more and more to the Department of 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION 45 

Farm Organization and Management for information along many 
lines, to assist in solving its economic problems. 

Conclusion 

In dealing in this hasty way with such a variety of topics in an 
attempt to cover the ground, I realize that this discussion must read 
somewhat like a dictionary. I also fully recognize the fact that I 
have been unable to do justice to many of the topics mentioned; and 
further, that injustice has been done in the omission of many topics 
that might have been mentioned. The particular points mentioned 
were selected largely to serve as illustrations. Another person w^ould 
doubtless have selected other points for mention. Therefore no one 
should infer that this brief review is intended to be a perfect epitome 
of the Experiment Station's most valuable work. 

It is unfortunate that we have no very satisfactory device for 
measuring, either in terms of bushels or of dollars, the tremendous re- 
turns resulting from these investigations. Stories of this kind are 
usually made more interesting by translating into terms of millions 
of dollars. Having at hand in most cases no sound basis for such a 
translation, I have necessarily been contented in setting forth the 
economic value of these investigations in rather general terms. 

If in this hasty review there has been left a general impression of 
the nature and the scope of the Experiment Station work, during its 
thirty-four years of existence, the purpose will have been accomplished. 




THE WORK OF THE COLLEGE OF 
AGRICULTURE 

Fred H. Rankin, Superintendent of Agricultural College Extension 

T has been the destiny of Illinois to be intimately associ- 
ated with that great educational movement which culmin- 
ated in "An Act donating public lands to the several 
States and territories which may provide Colleges for the 
benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts." There 
is an inscription upon the cornice of the Agricultural build- 
ing of the University of Illinois which reads "Industrial education 
prepares the way for a millennium of labor." These words of 
Jonathan B. Turner, of Jacksonville, who was intimately associated 
in the establishment of the Land Grant Colleges, stand forth as a 
constant reminder that the material resources of a people can never 
be fully developed without the aid of trained intelligence. 

The University of Illinois, known at that time as the Illinois In- 
dustrial University, first opened its doors to students in 1868. Agri- 
cultural education and the direct application of science to the affairs 
of agriculture have come up in our country through great tribulations. 
The early records show that when the institution was first officially 
opened, Willard F. Bliss, of Nokomis, Illinois, was elected professor 
of agriculture. He was a graduate of Yale College, had traveled ex- 
tensively, was trained in the classics, and was owner and manager of a 
large farm in Montgomery county. Mr. Bliss took up the task 
assigned him with much hesitation. Actual contact with the matters 
involved did not decrease the difficulties, and at the end of his first 
year he considered it necessary to return to his own home. 

Jonathan Periam was the first real employe of the Agricultural 
College. He served in this capacity until March, 1869. In 1870, 
Dr. Manley Miles was made professor of agriculture with the un- 
derstanding that he should serve during the fall and winter months, 
dividing his time between the Michigan Agricultural College and this 
institution. However, later it became understood that Dr. Miles 
could not accept this engagement. Strenuous efforts were made to fill 
his place. Matters drifted for two or three years; and again, in 1874, 
Dr. Miles served as professor of agriculture. In the meantime affairs 
of "practical agriculture," as the phrase was, had been intrusted to the 
head farmer, and one and another such employes, as temporary 
director of field experiments. 

46 



THE COLLEGE 47 

In 1876 George E. Morrow, then professor of agriculture at 
Iowa State College, was elected to the professorship in agriculture and 
retained this office during eighteen consecutive years. He was a 
singularly gifted man in many ways, and these included qualifications 
needful in the arduous and difficult task which he undertook to per- 
form. There were encouragements as well as discouragements. It 
is not in place at this time to attempt a complete story. However, at 
the close of his long career, he could not see that in the actual and 
plainly observable condition of things his expectations had been just- 
ified nor his favorable anticipations fulfilled. Too much was ex- 
pected and the end sought too great. There was a woeful want of 
understanding in regard to what one man could and could not do. 
Superficiality prevailed. No one as yet realized the unavoidable cost 
of agricultural education given in anything like a thoroly sensible way. 
A lecture room with a desk, some chairs (not very many), a few charts 
and pictures hung upon the walls, and a half-dozen books upon agricul- 
ture, — these constituted the equipment of the professor of agriculture, 
aside from a few things to be found in the way of a Jersey bull in the 
barn and some weedy fence corners around the plots. It was nc 
wonder that students were few and enthusiasm at low ebb. 

Without further enumeration, it may be said that the agricultural 
education of the first quarter of a century in our Land Grant Col- 
leges was poor and halting, probably because it was before its time 
The inertia of the ages was upon it. There was need of a self- 
regenerating power. 

The First Dean and Director 

It should not be inferred from its faults and deficiencies that lit- 
tle had been done or gained. Yet it is true that there existed a want 
of apprehension, inconceivable to us today, of things as vital then as 
now, and in that sense there was somnolence and apathy instead of 
vision and vigor. 

At this stage in development Eugene Davenport was called to 
the University of Illinois as dean of the College of Agriculture and 
director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. The new dean had 
grown to young manhood on a Michigan farm, and had paid his own 
way through the Michigan Agricultural College, graduating with the 
class of 1878. He had farmed for ten years on his own account, 
taught school in winter, and meanwhile as teacher, farmer, and citi- 
zen had been vigorously active in rural affairs. 



48 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

After serving as professor of agriculture and director of the Ag- 
ricultural Experiment Station in connection with his Abna Mater, 
and later spending a year in Brazil, attempting to organize a govern- 
ment agricultural college (which proved premature in that country 
owing to changing political regime), he had just returned to America 
by way of England when destiny stepped in, opportunity beckoned, and 
the broad prairies of Illinois presented their vista. He came ; and be- 
hold, he found less than a dozen students, no buildings, no equipment 
of any kind. He was told to go ahead and make bricks, but to make 
them without straw. Later on, after straw began to be supplied from 
outside sources as a result of his own activities, there was somewhat of 
opposition to be overcome from the executive office of the University 
in its ideals and in regard to the matter of support which the progress 
of agricultural education required. 

Conditions During the Middle Nineties 

Reviewing the condition of things in the middle nineties, the 
state was preeminently an agricultural one. The people were largely 
of the progressive type and tendency — a good many of them. The 
Agricultural College was on the campus of a rapidly growing Uni- 
versity. There was sympathy and encouragement on the side of many 
members of the faculty, notably in the personal interest of Dr. T. J. 
Burrill. The University was beginning actually to push forward the 
agricultural interests. Our more progressive farmers, and others 
whose business or professional activities made them recognized pro- 
moters of agriculture, were not numerous in the state, but there were 
men here and there of real and growing power, enthusiastic rural 
men who had a force and whose influence had important bearing on 
subsequent developments. These and other farmers were beginning 
earnestly to better themselves; they had already in 1895 planned the 
organization of a State Farmers' Institute, with legislative support. 
The agricultural press was assuming a more friendly attitude. The 
state legislature was beginning to demonstrate a new interest toward 
the University but was yet apathetic toward the agricultural interests. 

What if there were no distinctive Agricultural College buildings, 
no separately designated College funds, but few agricultural students, 
and little favorable inside or outside consideration? 

After the University had been founded for over thirty years, some 
of the progressive citizens began to realize that they had some per- 
sonal responsibility in an institution which was supported by them as 
tax payers. A committee from the State Farmers' Institute and other 



THE COLLEGE 49 

organizations visited the institution, investigated, and reported. It is 
not necessary to say much about what they found, or rather what 
they did not find. When the farmers heard about it through their 
organization, a movement to right things, sane, intelh'gent, determined, 
irresistible, was begun. 

In 1895, the trustees had asked the legislature for $40,000 for a 
dairy building. This was scarcely considered. Two years later, they 
had asked for $80,000 for an agricultural building. The efifort 
failed, many farmers and farmers' institutes opposing it. Two years 
later, and for the third time, the trustees asked for an agricultural 
building, fixing the amount at $100,000. The farmers and the State 
Farmers' Institute officially endorsed the asking; it was supported by 
every state agricultural organization. A campaign of education com- 
menced throughout the length and breadth of the state. By careful 
study it became evident that $100,000 would not be sufficient to pro- 
vide what was needed, and the estimate was raised to $150,000 dur- 
ing the campaign. Resolutions were passed, favorable to this asking, 
at every county institute held in the state, with one exception. Finally, 
the bill passed the General Assembly without amendment and with 
only one dissenting vote. When this vote was taken and the building 
planned, there were but nineteen students in the College of Agricul- 
ture. 

In those days it was easier to build a dreadnaught than a College 
of Agriculture. Interest could be aroused in two continents in solv- 
ing a problem of aerial navigation, but it was difficult to get the people 
to support the proposition of spending money in developing the re- 
sources of the country in order to increase the productive capacity of 
its people, — for in this farmers were not alone interested since in the 
last analj'sis all prosperity rests upon a successful agriculture. Agri- 
cultural education stands not only for that industry but for all things 
needful and contemporaneous in the development of intelligent and 
patriotic citizens. The preponderance of human ideals and human 
efforts is, I believe, always toward the good ; and the prevailing course 
and tendency of human institutions is toward the better. Enterprises 
may sometimes seem to go zigzag, to go wrong end foremost, or at 
times to remain stationary or go backwards ; but ultimately we shall 
get onward and upward. The best things come not at once, but by 
evolution, step by step, from imperfection to excellence. Agriculture 
in its beginning was simple indeed ; but in its higher development we 
see it growing complex, comprehensible, drawing to its aid, assimilat- 
ing, and rendering subservient all our leading sciences of chemistry, 



50 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

botany, physics, bacteriology, and becoming in its vast development 
ultimately the "master science." 

In those earlier days we were turning to a new agriculture, an 
agriculture which was lighted and glorified by science; and to this 
new agriculture the Agricultural College and Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station was to be the main gate way. Many farmers who 
watched the work of the institution, and who applied to their own 
business those teachings that might be applicable, soon came to be en- 
thusiastic friends of the institution; and thus was developed a wise 
public policy which from time to time gave more liberal support to 
the Agricultural College and Experiment Station. The advocates of 
this education stood upon the high ground that agriculture and in- 
dustry in general should be studied toward, and developed from, the 
standpoint of public policy ; and the principle was enunciated that in- 
stitutions of learning and research existed primarily, not for the bene- 
fit of particular individuals, but in order to develop certain fields of 
knowledge, such as agriculture, science, economics, literature, etc., and 
to stimulate their influence among the people. 

Agricultural education was bringing to the attention of the peo- 
ple a new standard of life for all men. The old idea, held by many, 
that the highest life consists in withdrawing from one's fellows, in 
spending one's days in contemplation, in leading a life which begins 
and ends with the individual in some hopeless attempt to solve the 
infinite, was fast passing away. Agricultural education introduced 
into the world the gospel of service and of doing things, and demon- 
strated that industry and service detract nothing whatever from art 
and refinement. 

New problems constantly arose for adjustment, in taking this 
education and using it for the benefit of all men and the development 
of industry. It was found that perhaps the most fundamental means 
for extending new knowledge among the people is the students who 
come to the College and are educated in it. These students are not 
educated so much for their own sake as that they may go out and carry 
into their generation the best that the present has to give. It is be- 
lieved that for the business of instruction in general no method of 
propagating truth among the people is so effective as that which goes 
cut from the classroom and laboratories into the minds and hearts of 
the young men and women. These young people go out and begin 
new lives; and while the Experiment Station and the scientists dis- 
cover agricultural improvements, knowledge of which is spread by 
means of publications and the Agricultural Extension Service, yet we 



THE COLLEGE 51 

believe that ft is safe to say that after all the most powerful agents of 
progress that the University sends out are its well-trained young men 
and young women, when they arc settled upon the farms of Illinois. 
These were the ideals which inspired a few men in those early 
days with an immovable determination to develop agriculture and 
agricultural education in Illinois; and the energy with which they 
prosecuted this public service in their generation was analogous almost 
to the energy and faith of martyrs. All honor to the men who in the 
last quarter century gave so freely of their time and service to this end : 
Colonel Morrison, W. H. Fulkerson, Lafayette Funk, John R. Tan- 
ner, Ames F. Moore, S. Noble King, Charles F. Mills, James H, 
Coolidge, E. E. Chester, A. P. Grout, L. H. Kerrick, James Carter, 
Frank H. Hall, Fred Hatch, E. B. Vorhees, H. A. Aldrich, H. M. 
Dunlap, Jacob Zeigler, H. A. Winter, and many others. In the lead 
of these men and associated with them have been many others who 
carried on the work which they so ably began, whose names it would 
be impossible to enumerate. 

The Growth in Students 

Following this renaissance in agriculture in the nineties, there 
came to the College of Agriculture such earnest workers as Daven- 
port, Blair, Hopkins, Mumford, Frasier, and Miss Bevier; and they 
in turn brought to the faculty in each of their respective departments 
an excellent corps of young instructors, many of them already well 
known for eminent service in agriculture, and all learned and skilled 
in the art and devoted to it. How rapidly the attendance in the Col- 
lege of Agriculture increased is indicated by the following table: 



Year 


Sti 


idents Registered 


G 


raduating 


Class 


Gi 


•aduate Students 


90-91 




7 




2 









95-96 




14 














00-01 




159 




4 









05-06 




430 




24 






9 


10-11 




729 




51 






28 


15-16 




1,257 




188 






75 


20-21 




1,184 




176 






54 



Students are now coming from almost every county in the state, 
most of the states in the union, and from many foreign countries ; and 
it is significant that over 50 per cent of the four-year graduates are re- 
turning and residing upon farms, over 25 per cent are engaged in 
some phase of agricultural activity, such as county advisory work, 
teaching of agriculture in vocation schools, or agricultural investiga- 



52 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

tion work. Some carefully compiled statistics made just prior to the 
war revealed the fact that over 85 per cent of the graduates at that 
time were following agriculture directly or were engaged in some 
phase of agricultural work. 

Some of the Guiding Influences 

The College of Agriculture engages in three distinct lines of 
work : ( 1 ) the regular teaching in college courses of the students 
who come here; (2) the investigation of and research into agricul- 
tural problems; (3) extension work. It is not the purpose of this 
paper to dwell in detail upon any particular phase of this service, but 
to touch in a general way upon some of the fundamental things which 
have guided the policy of the institution. Perhaps it may be said in 
passing that there was a time in the early history when, but for wise 
direction, the funds available for agricultural education would have 
been diverted ; and instead of there being instruction of University 
standard, there would have been simply short-course work or high 
school agricultural courses offered. 

While closely related to the Experiment Station, yet we consider 
that one of the most fundamental policies attempted in the College as 
well as in the Station is a system which is unique at Illinois, namely, 
that of having an advisory committee relationship for each of the de- 
partments, some three to five representative citizens being invited to 
act in an advisory capacity with the department whose interests they 
especially represent. These men are conversant with the practical 
problems which confront them, upon which they especially desire in- 
formation. They act as a balance, representing the interests of the 
practical man as against the man whose thoughts and interests lie more 
in science and theory. This relationship has been a most happy and 
profitable one, and it probably has done more toward fostering the 
close personal interest of the citizens in the work of the College than 
has any other one thing. 

Another most valuable asset has been what is known as the Corn 
Growers' and Stockmen's Convention, or two weeks course in Ag- 
riculture, which has met annually at the University for the past 
twenty-one years. Several hundred young men and farmers have at- 
tended this meeting and have received inspiration and incentive and 
an insight into the work of the institution which otherwise could not 
have been attained. In this respect again Illinois has been a pioneer. 

As these movements for agricultural education were undertaken, 
they made a profound impression; citizens welcomed this type of ed- 



THE COLLEGE 53 

ucation more heartily than ever before, and its influence throughout 
the state was everywhere great. One of the first reasons for this 
change was that the value of education along agricultural lines was 
brought more distinctly home to the farmers through the work of the 
farmers institutes, state agricultural associations, and other early ex- 
tension agencies. It was no longer simply a question of increased 
production on the farm ; but rather, in addition to that, a building of 
strong, permanent, and intelligent leadership in agricultural communi- 
ties, studying and solving those questions which relate to the larger 
life of our agricultural people; in short, more attention was being 
given to the importance of the human side of agricultural progress 
which, in turn, had a profound effect upon the work of all the 
agencies for agricultural education. This human side of agricultural 
progress, as contrasted with the narrow question of merely increased 
production, has had a profound influence in shaping newer lines of 
extension service, such as a series of one-day farmers' institutes, 
farmers' clubs, community meetings ; specially organized and planned 
institutes for boys and girls with corn and various judging contests; 
personal visits to homes ; boys' State Fair schools ; short courses in ag- 
riculture, of which the College conducted over sixty in one year; 
farmers' encampments ; seed, soil, and dairy trains run over all of the 
principal railway lines of the state ; and the organization of excursion 
parties to visit the University. 

The Newer Problems and Lines of Service 

The so-called stock information in agriculture concerning crop 
production, live-stock judging, soils, etc., is pretty well known. There 
is active and unanswered as yet a demand for information along such 
lines as cost accounting, cooperation, marketing, retail delivery ser- 
vice, overland truck service; taxation and public expenditure; housing; 
and also a demand for a study of conditions within the state, includ- 
ing the sources of raw material, transportation records and rates, vari- 
ations in retail prices, etc. These are simply a few of the problems 
that confront us in an economic way that must be solved by the young 
men of the next generation or two. 

Time will not permit the enumeration of the new and large de- 
partments and lines of work in the College of Agriculture and the 
activities which are being directed especially to the betterment of the 
farmers, along research and investigational lines ; nor of the ways in 
which through the Extension Service it is making known to the citi- 
zens of the state the results of its investigations. The courses of 



54 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

study as offered in the College are revised from time to time, and 
standing committees are constantly seeking to study and improve the 
curricula and methods of teaching. There is offered landscape 
gardening, which has for its primary object the improvement and 
adornment of the home ground ; the same applies to the curriculum in 
floriculture. Household organization and activities, and home eco- 
nomics are subjects which apply alike to every household in the state. 
The work of the College, therefore, in a broad way applies to all 
citizens and cannot be regarded as favoring one class to the exclusion 
of another. The Agricultural Extension Service and the county 
farm advisers are now organized in some ninety-five of the one 
hundred and two counties in the state. 

Citizens of the state visit the University and its Experiment Sta- 
tion in large numbers. It is conservative to say that not less than ten 
thousand people annually come to the twin cities primarily because of 
its Agricultural College and Agricultural Experiment Station. The 
visits to such an institution, if for but a single day, do much in arous- 
ing and redirecting the dormant energies of mind. 

The Contribution of Eugene Davenport 

The accomplishments of the past twenty-five years in agricultural 
education have not just happened nor just come to pass ; they have been 
the result of wise guidance and leadership. Somebody's watchful- 
ness, somebody's thoughtfulness, somebody's thoroness is always re- 
quired. While many men have contributed to the development of 
agricultural education in the last quarter of a century, I do not feel 
it proper to make these general observations without referring to the 
skilful management and organizing ability of Dean Eugene Daven- 
port, who is abundantly entitled to all the credit he may ever receive 
for the splendid upbuilding of the great Agricultural College of the 
University of Illinois ; and for the unique and unsurpassed service that 
he has rendered in the promotion of agricultural interests and of 
the affairs of the state at large. Looking backward it little matters 
who was governor of the state for four or eight years, but it is of in- 
finite concern to Illinois citizenry as to who for the past twenty-seven 
years outlined the plans for the development of our agricultural in- 
dustry, how it should be studied, taught, and developed from the 
standpoint of public policy. 

While agriculture has grown greatly in Illinois, as a result of 
this guidance. Dean Davenport has also largely contributed to the 
wealth and worth of community life and social well-being in the way 



THE COLLEGE 55 

of projecting his personality into the minds and hearts of thousands 
of young men and women and older people who have come into direct 
contact with him and are proud to do him honor as a modest citizen 
who has led an inspiring, wholesome life and who has efficiently dis- 
charged day by day the duties of his office which he has skilfully ad- 
ministered and so highly magnified. He has established an honorable, 
rightly earned, and widely recognized name. His ability as an or- 
ganizer has probably given him a good share of his reputation, and it 
is no doubt true that some of the larger results of his intelligently 
directed efiforts have been indirectly achieved through the organization 
and direction of others, while he has been but little in evidence per- 
sonally, preferring to allow other people to have the credit for what 
he had really originated. 

Gathered here today we see, tho incomplete, an outline of what 
the founders and leaders of such an institution as the College of Ag- 
riculture endeavored to establish. Let us in prophetic vision con- 
template it as it will appear when generations have perfected it in all 
its magnificence, its glories, its good to man and to all men of all 
classes, in its power to evolve and dififuse practical knowledge and 
skill, culture and appreciation and better love of industry and sound 
morality, as voiced not only through its research, its instruction, and 
its extension service, but through its thousands of graduates in every 
pursuit of life. Then let us seriously ask, is not such an object 
worthy of at least the best efforts we have and worthy of a state which 
God himself in the very act of creation designed to be among the lead- 
ing agricultural and industrial commonwealths on the face of the 
Globe? 




NEWER PROBLEMS IN SOIL TREATMENT 

Frank I. Mann, Gilman 

HE GREATEST asset any nation ever had is that which 
the United States had in the fertility of her soils ; it is the 
basis on which rest all other assets, whether of bank, of 
railroad or of manufacture. The importance of this asset, 
and the rate at which it is being exhausted, entitles it to 
consideration as a national problem, not only for agriculture 
but for all industries. We are now drawing on this asset and have 
done so for many years ; we have sold the products, for domestic con- 
sumption and for export, for less than any reasonable cost of replace- 
ment. This is a wanton waste, which must some time be reflected in 
the decreasing prosperity and happiness of the people. The value of 
this asset is largely expressed in the organic matter of the soils ; and that 
which is of greatest value in the organic matter is the element of nitro- 
gen. The ultimate problem in food production is the fixation of at- 
mospheric carbon by the plants, and when we remember that, as a 
broad proposition, nitrogen, with a small amount of minerals, is the 
usual measure of the fixation of carbon, we can realize the great im- 
portance of its maintenance. 

It has been estimated that the virgin soils of the United States 
contained about 550 million tons of the element nitrogen ; and they 
are now estimated to contain about 275 million tons, which is a re- 
duction to one-half the original amount. When we spread this present 
total over all the cropping land in the country, it gives an average of 
about 2,000 pounds per acre; and when we make allowance for the 
larger amounts in the richer soils of what is termed the corn belt, the 
northwestern wheat belt, and the alluvial soils variously distributed, 
it gives about 1,500 pounds per acre for the remaining land, which con- 
stitutes by far the largest area. This area largely comprizes the 
Eastern states, the country south of the Ohio and Missouri rivers, and 
parts of the states bounding these rivers on the north. This means 
that the lands in this large area do not now contain enough nitrogen 
to give fair returns from their operation. These figures indicate that 
we have already exhausted about one-half of our greatest national 
asset. 

If we take the total crops produced each year and calculate the 
total amount of nitrogen required to form the finished product, we 
have a total of about three million tons ; that is, there is annually re- 
moved from the soils about this amount of nitrogen. If we calculate, 

56 



NEWER SOIL PROBLEMS 57 

as best we can, the amount returned from various sources, in legume 
crops, farm manures, and several forms of commercial nitrogen, it 
seems impossible to reach a total of more than two million tons; this 
leaves an annual deficit of about one million tons of nitrogen. When 
we remember that production is based on the use of a small percentage 
of the total supply each year, we can realize better the importance of 
having a large total supply in order that the small percentage may be 
adequate for profitable production. I am aware that some of these 
calculations have been made from rather crude data ; but it is one of 
the problems of agriculture to ascertain the truth, and to either dis- 
prove or confirm the calculations already made. 

The Problem of Maintaining and Increasing the 
Nitrogen Supply 

The problem of the nitrogen supply naturally divides itself into 
two lines ; one, the conservation of the natural supply ; the other, a res- 
toration through new supplies. As the nitrogen is included in the 
organic matter of the soil, it is a frequent custom to apply various 
agents to those soils low in organic matter that will hasten the de- 
composition of the organic matter, so that more nitrogen can be re- 
covered than under natural processes. The agents so used are acid- 
ulated fertilizers, green cover and catch crops plowed under, lime in 
caustic forms ; and sometimes even clover and farm manures are used 
for the purpose. On much of the poorer land, where the amount of 
available nitrogen is the measure of crop growth, it is being found 
more profitable to continue the process of breaking down the organic 
matter by using more and more of these agents designed to secure 
nitrogen, than it is to supply nitrogen. In the end, and the end is 
coming soon on much of the land, the organic matter becomes so low 
that stimulation is not effective, and complete fertilizers must be used 
to provide each deficient element in the quantity needed for the crop. 
In general, such crops do not pay the cost of the fertilizer. It is not 
contended that there is no legitimate use for these various stimulating 
agents, for some of them have great value, and there is a proper place 
for them; but it is one of the problems of agriculture to determine 
their proper use and their improper use. 

A common reply to the problem of restoring nitrogen to the soils 
has been to let the legumes do it. It is true that nitrogen can be added 
to soils by means of legume crops ; but it is also true that legume plants 
prefer available soil nitrogen to air or bacterial nitrogen, and are 
likely to use the soil nitrogen before using the other source. If this 



58 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

is true, it looks like an enormous undertaking to restore to the soils 
the net loss of a million tons annually by the growth of legumes. It 
would seem a difitcult matter even to maintain a nitrogen supply in 
soils having a large productive capacity, and well nigh impossible to 
build up a poor soil to a very high productive capacity. To pass the 
answer to legumes does not solve the problem of adequate nitrogen 
restoration. On a soil rich enough to give up sufficient nitrogen for a 
hundred-bushel crop of corn, how much nitrogen will be fixed by a 
four-ton crop of clover, when the nitrogen requirements are about the 
same for both crops? Or on fifty-bushel corn land, how much will be 
fixed when only two tons of clover are grown ? 

To keep any type of soil up to a high productiveness it is neces- 
sary to grow more or less of the deep-rooting legume crops for other 
purposes than the fixation of nitrogen; and it seems that the amount 
of legumes necessary for these other purposes is considerably less than 
the amount required to maintain a nitrogen supply. Will it be found 
profitable, then, to supplement legume nitrogen with artificially fixed 
nitrogen? If the promise to fix artificial nitrogen at about five cents 
per pound at the Muscle Shoals plant be realized, what effect will it 
have on the future of agriculture? Will the tendency be to replace 
legume nitrogen entirely, or will it still find a profitable use? With 
this cheap nitrogen, would the farmers be able to produce fixed carbon 
cheaply enough for it to be converted into motor fuel without eco- 
nomic ruin to the farming business ? 

Maintaining Fertility Below the Plow Line 

A problem of great importance in the future will be to maintain 
the fertility in that part of the soil which lies below the plowed por- 
tion. The productiveness of the corn-belt soils has been due in great 
measure to the depth of their fertility; and especially in seasons of 
drouth is deep fertility a factor, because the deeper crop roots not only 
secure more food but are able to secure more moisture when needed. 
Plant food is constantly removed from the surface soil and below by 
ordinary cropping ; it is moved upward and stored in the mature crop, 
which is taken from the land. The surface, or plowed soil, may be 
kept rich by plowing under organic matter in various forms and by 
adding other forms of plant food ; but with the exception of limestone, 
this method does not materially improve the soil below the line of 
plowing. At Rothamsted where 15.7 tons of manure per acre were 
added annually for fifty years, the soil analyses at the beginning and 
the end of the period showed no material gain in any element of plant 



NEWER SOIL PROBLEMS 59 

food below the ploiv line, but showed a loss of some elements. 

While the general movement of plant food is upward, from the 
roots to the tops, in general cropping, there is a reversed movement 
from the tops to the roots in the case of deep-rooting perennial legume 
plants during the fall in preparation for winter maintenance and 
future growth. To what extent we can utilize this habit of certain 
plants will need investigation. We know that limestone will sink 
into the deep soil, in the form of hard water, from a supply main- 
tained at the surface, but we need also to have active organic matter, 
nitrogen, and phosphorus added to the deeper soil if we want a deep 
root development on our grain plants. A single instance is not proof 
but it is indicative : A field on which has been grown a rotation of 
corn, oats, wheat, and clover (which was mostly alfalfa), with the 
late growth plowed under after translocation for winter had been 
made ; on which limestone was maintained at the surface, and to which 
one ton of raw phosphate was applied during each rotation until five 
tons had been applied, — showed by a single analysis, that there were 
about twenty tons more organic matter per acre and about twice as 
much phosphorus and sulfur in the soil below the plowed soil where 
treatment had been made as described above, than on the check half- 
acre which had had the same rotation but no mineral treatments. 

An Opportunity for the Plant Physiologist 

In the study of the plants themselves there is a wonderful oppor- 
tunity for the plant physiologist to solve many of the problems now 
perplexing us; and when we come to the relations between the soil, 
with all its factors, and the plant, there is a field almost untrodden. 
It is conceded that sweet and acid reactions in animal bodies are 
factors in resisting diseases. Are plants also enabled by these different 
reactions to resist plant diseases, more or less? And what are the re- 
lations of the soil to these reactions? In plants the changing of 
sugars to starches and oils, and of oils and starches to sugars, is in- 
fluenced by a number of factors, with temperature an apparent factor. 
What are the relations between the soil, climate, and latitude, and 
these factors? If quality of grains depends on maturity, and ma- 
turity depends on the change from sugars to starches and oils, we must 
know more about the factors which induce maturity, if we are to grow 
grains of high quality. 

Many seeds and plants which prepare for a dormant period dur- 
ing the winter do not grow well again until some changes have taken 
place during the period of dormancy. Winter wheat, if sown in the 



60 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

growing season of spring does not form grain, nor does it produce 
well when sown in the fall if the winter be without cold weather. 
Spring wheat, when sown late, may make as much growth of straw 
as does that sown early but it does not produce as much grain in pro- 
portion as does the early sown. Hardy trees and shrubs do not grow 
so well in the spring after being kept from frost during the winter as 
they do after they have endured normal outside conditions. What 
are the problems involved in these changes, and is there any application 
to be made to any extent to such other crops as corn, oats, etc. ? 

Each grain or seed is a product of parental mating, and with 
plants the same laws prevail as in the mating of animals. We have 
studied the succession of visible characters under the laws supposed to 
govern ; but has any attention been given to mating to secure those 
invisible characters — if they are invisible — on which depend such 
things as longevity, the inherent tendency to overcome adversity, to 
resist diseases, and to show strength in development in the face of 
adverse environment? Should we not study plants with reference 
to their vitativeness, if in doing so we may find some of the factors of 
immunity to diseases of many kinds? 




BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 

Charles A. Ewing, Decatur 

[S A THEME for this occasion I have chosen — farming, a 
retrospect and prospect. And I will attempt a resume of 
some of the problems arising in the leasing and operating of 
a number of typical corn-belt farms, and the conclusions 
arrived at concerning them; and then, tho not blest with 
the gift of prophecy, I will mention some things that 
seem to me not far ahead for all of us engaged in farming, 
whether as grain farmers or as stockmen. As the convictions or con- 
clusions of others are the more readily evaluated by knowing on what 
experience they are based, and how they were arrived at, I will ask 
your indulgence for beginning at the beginning, and your pardon for 
being so much in the story. 

A record yield on a small tract of from one to ten acres, or a 
single prize steer, produced under artificial conditions which do not, 
or cannot, and ofttimes should not, prevail in general farm practise, 
to my mind are illustrative of nothing in particular. If this tale be 
worth the telling, it is because the farms of which I shall speak have 
been operated not as a hobby but as a business. The endeavor has 
been to conserve and build up the fertility of the soil, provide a rea- 
sonably comfortable home for the tenant and his family, leave him a 
fair opportunity, and make a reasonable income on the investment. 

In the operation of these farms the practises of husbandry as 
taught and promulgated by this College have in the main been ad- 
hered to. For more than half the time, a record of yields from each 
field has been kept, to determine the value of each crop to the enter- 
prise. For several years on one of the larger farms, a labor record 
showing the man, horse, and machine hours expended on the various 
crops and in carrying on the work incident to the general operation 
of the farm, was kept. Some large yields have been attained on con- 
siderable acreages, but the thing sought after was to better the gen- 
eral average and to strengthen the weaker links in the chain,, realizing 
that it is only the net return per acre made by a system of cropping 
that does not deplete the soil, which in the end tells the story of suc- 
cess or failure. 

61 



62 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Farm Business Conditions During the Past Quarter 
OF A Century 

It was in the fall of 1896, now a quarter of a century ago, that 
I began to take an active interest in the operation and management 
of several thousand acres of central Illinois land, tho the responsibility 
for its management was not assumed until a few years later. The 
land did not lie in one body but in tracts ranging from forty acres up 
to more than a section. Let us consider for a moment the conditions 
existing in the farming business at that time, for they were worse then 
than now. 

Some of you may recall a decline in the markets for farm produce 
that began about 1889 and lasted without very marked improvement 
until after 1897. During that time the barometer of farm business 
seemed wholly unable to find its way into the fair weather section of 
the chart. Corn sold for twelve to fifteen cents, and wheat around 
fifty cents ; cattle went as low as a cent and a half, and hogs down to 
two and a half cents during that depression. It was during this time 
that the abandonment of the New England farms commenced, and 
hundreds of them were simply deserted and left to revert to the 
bramble and the briar. Alarmed at this condition, efforts were made 
to import foreigners to run the land, but without success, and even 
to this day that section has not fully recovered from the blight of that 
condition. Kansas, during these years, had a particularly trying 
time, aggravated by the cyclones, hot winds, grasshoppers, and other 
visitations of Providence and politics. It was then that the great 
movement from the countrj?^ to the cities began, which continued 
almost unchecked for more than a decade. Then, as now, Congress 
was appealed to for legislative relief, but then, as will be the case now, 
the recovery was gradual. Now, however, some measures of relief 
are being advocated in behalf of the farmer that, in the end, will only 
aggravate instead of ameliorate his condition, among them being the 
issuing of the tax-exempt securities. 

Certain it is that things were bad enough, and there was not 
much encouragement or incentive to remain on the farm. About 
everybody left who could, but a good manj'^, then as now, were in 
much the same position as the fellow who had the bull by the tail. 
He couldn't let go. In 1897, some of the best land in the estate was 
offered for sale and brought from sixty-five to seventy dollars per acre ; 
but even at those figures it was considered better to sell than to try 
to make it pay interest on that valuation. 



BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 63 

At the outset it was necessary for a period of several years to 
make an annual accounting in the probate court; and this was most 
fortunate, for it proved to be a lesson of the greatest value. It com- 
pelled keeping a careful record of the incomes and outgoes, and of 
profits and losses. The value of a performance record was soon rec- 
ognized as being necessary for a study of the business, to determine 
what part of the operation was paying and what was not ; and if not, 
why not. Systems already prepared were not available then, nor were 
there many to whom to turn for advice about it ; so we worked out a 
system of our own to serve the purpose. For keeping a record of the 
cash transactions a regular double entry system was used. To keep 
a performance record, the farms were laid out in forty-acre fields; 
these were numbered, and each year the crop, its yield, value, and 
fertilizer applications, if any, were noted. A business-like method of 
accounting, of striking balances, of taking inventories, and of analysis 
of profit and loss is just as important in the handling of a farm as it 
is essential to the intelligent handling of any other business. The 
information made available by a good record of performance is the 
basis of intelligent farm management, and that is the basis of both 
safety and success. Any college of agriculture that does not include 
in its curriculum a thoro course of accounting suited to the needs 
of the farm business, and require every student to take it, is lacking 
one of the most important fundamentals. For if intelligent farm 
management isn't the main, ultimate objective of a college of agri- 
culture, what is? 

The need of definite information on many aspects of the business 
was keenly felt, so the acquisition of it began; but it came from so 
many sources in such different forms — books, bulletins, circulars, mag- 
azine articles, etc. — that soon it was impossible to find the things 
wanted. To obviate this difficulty, the material was all card-indexed 
according to subjects ; so that, for example, the card for corn had a list 
of every article in the library pertaining to that subject. By this 
method, and almost for the asking, an extremely useful library was 
obtained. 

It may be a strain on the credulity, but in those days both lumber 
and labor were comparatively cheap and money scarce. Buildings 
generally on farms under lease were of temporary construction. Fre- 
quently the landlord would buy the material and the tenant, with the 
help of a jack-of-all-trades from the nearest village, often called a 
hatchet-and-saw man, would build them. Not much consideration 
was given to their architecture, location, or arrangement, or the direc- 



64 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

tion of the prevailing summer breeze, with the result that it often re- 
quired some determination to ignore the consciousness of the prox- 
imity of the barn lot to the dining room. Painting was rather ex- 
pensive and therefore quite often omitted, which did not enhance the 
general appearance of things. The record soon revealed a rising tide 
of repairs that demanded attention. 

As a result of our experience, gained in the course of years and 
at some expense, I have found it more satisfactory to lay out a build- 
ing plan for the farmstead as a whole, governed by the location of 
those improvements already made and substantial enough to be re- 
tained, and by the size, topography and contemplated method of op- 
eration of the farm itself ; and then to construct buildings of a better 
and more permanent character, with due regard to their relationship 
to each other as to conveniences and architecture. Such a plan has 
much to commend it, as it saves both regrets and expense and attains 
a more desirable result in the end, for one is assured when improve- 
ments are made from time to time that they will be in the right place ; 
without such a plan an unsatisfactory arrangement is almost a cer- 
tainty. 

As to the drainage, most of the tile were lateral strings, of small 
size, emptying into small open ditches. Ofttimes, the tile were not 
adequate to take the water from the whole watershed to which 
they were servient, with the result that when the neighbor decided to 
drain his land, it was necessary to relay with a larger size or put in 
another extra string. So with the tile as with the buildings, it was finally 
deemed better to make a complete plan first. When considering the 
drainage of a farm, therefore, a complete survey of the entire water- 
shed was made, and on the basis of the acreage and annual rainfall an 
estimate of the sizes of tile needed to do the work. Of course, maps 
of these surveys were made and filed for reference so that the location 
of the tile might be determined. 

For years prior to 1896 and since, these farms have been operated 
as grain farms. Formerly, too large an acreage was planted to corn, 
and a little to oats; and while clover was intended as a part of the 
system, it so frequently failed as to be almost as much theory as prac- 
tise. Wheat was then added to the rotation; which was changed as 
follows: the pasture averages about ten per cent of the farm, two- 
fifths of the balance is put in corn, and one-fifth each to oats, wheat, 
and clover. Thus about half of the farm is in corn and wheat and the 
other half in oats, clover, and pasture. In 1905 applications of phos- 
phate rock and, soon thereafter, of limestone, were begun and con- 



BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 65 

tinued until the freight rates and cost made them prohibitive. In 
almost every instance they have proven beneficial when properly 
applied, one striking exception being on a farm east of Maroa, Illinois, 
where the soil map, when it became available, disclosed the fact that 
the phosphate content was already adequate. 

The record soon showed that the operation of the small farm of 
forty to eighty acres was top-heavy for both landlord and tenant, as 
the buildings, equipment and other upkeep furnished by the one, and 
the lack of opportunity to use to good advantage the horses, machinery, 
etc., supplied by the other, was a bad bargain both ways. The net 
returns per acre were too low to be a paying investment, and the 
tenant could not make a satisfactory return for his labor after paying 
the rent and his expenses. The small outlying tracts were then sold, 
as opportunity offered, and where small farms were contiguous they 
were consolidated ; so that at present the farms range in size from 
two hundred and forty acres up to more than a section. It might be 
well to state here that only a small part of this land, less than a 
section, belongs to me ; and my relation to it, therefore, has been that 
of a manager, tho a few times I have joined with the tenant in leas- 
ing and operating some of the larger farms for a time. 

Over a period of years the half of the farm in corn and wheat 
has paid a satisfactory return ; but the returns from the balance of the 
farm, taken separately, have not paid. So far, taken as a whole, the 
corn and wheat have made what in normal times would be considered 
a fair rate of interest on the inventoried values, as gradually increas- 
ing yields have been able to keep pace with increasing overhead 
charges ; but it seems doubtful if this will continue to be the case. 

Fifteen years ago this spring, I undertook the management of 
another considerable body of land, which differed in its previous his- 
tory, having been operated as a stock farm. The stock was sold out, 
and for about seven years the land was operated as a grain farm. 
Since that time it has been operated on a system of stock and grain 
farming, a joint interest being reserved in the stock with the tenant, 
as follows : The crop rotation is similar to that already explained, 
and a number of sows and ewes are kept for breeding purposes, suf- 
ficient to pasture the grass land and about three-fourths of the clover. 
About half of the sows are re-bred for fall litters ; in the late summer 
or early fall a few stock cattle are bought, and thus a home market 
is provided for the roughage. These farms are fenced in forty-acre 
fields, hog tight, and provided with a water system so that any field 
can be pastured off. 



66 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

When properly equipped, and with a tenant who is competent 
to handle stock, this system is, to my mind, the best. Pasturing the 
clover is not only a more profitable way to market it and makes a 
better return on the pasture than the prevailing cash rental, but it 
also takes off one of the peak loads of the work, namely, that of mak- 
ing hay; and lightens another, that of harvesting corn by hogging 
some of it off. It is good for the land, distributes much of the manure 
where wanted, brings up the returns on the part of the farm that 
most needs it, and has fewer chances for failure and more chances for 
success than either a strictly grain or a strictly stock method. 

An investigation was made a few years ago under the direction of 
the University, to ascertain the number of acres operated per horse, on 
the typical farms of the state; the reports ranged from seventeen to 
twenty-eight acres. The same year, on one of our larger farms op- 
erated as a stock and grain farm we were doing pretty well with one 
horse to forty acres. 

In seeking a substitute for oats, several things have been tried, 
with varying success, among them cowpeas, soybeans, buckwheat, and 
barley. Out of six comparative seedings of oats and barley, two 
years the returns were about equal and four years the barley made de- 
cidedly the better showing. 

Tenant Relations 

As to tenants, it has always been a custom to retain a good man 
as long as he is in sympathy with better farming practises; and some 
long relationships of that character have existed, several having ex- 
tended over thirty years, and one tenant has not far to go until he 
reaches his fortieth year on one of these farms. These are unusually 
long periods and except for divers reasons these parties would have 
earned and retired to a farm of their own ; for it has been my pleasure 
to see a number start from the bottom and accomplish this very thing. 
In farming as in other lines, however, not all men can accumulate, or 
circumstance may circumvent them. In spite of all that has been 
said to the contrary, and there has been considerable agitation against 
landlords, some of it emanating from sources that should know better, 
a good farm offered on a fair lease affords to many a young man with 
a very limited amount of capital an opportunity to go into business 
for himself under more favorable conditions than are found in almost 
any other line of endeavor. 

Right here, however, is a question that will stand more study. 
What sized farm should a tenant rent? It is not profitable for the 



BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 67 

landlord to rent an improved forty-acre farm; neither it is profitable 
for the tenant; and I do not hesitate to say that with the prevailing 
high cost of operation, a farm of eighty acres offers but a scant op- 
portunity unless it is used for some intensive work, such as trucking, 
or fruit or poultry raising. I wonder how many farms there are in 
this state so small or so poor that they hold no reasonable chance of 
success. It is the men on these farms that are most easily capsized by 
any adverse wind. 

During the period of my experience I have had charge of con- 
siderable land in other localities; namely, Indiana, Missouri, Miss- 
issippi, and Tennessee; and the disadvantage of being at such a dis- 
tance that supervision was difficult and often not as thoro as it should 
be, leads to the conclusion that such distant holdings are not desirable. 

What of the Future? 

In closing this review of the past, I am conscious that my efforts 
have been almost wholly directed at one phase of the business of farm- 
ing, viz., that of production. I am conscious that the margins of 
profit, never large as profits are figured in most businesses, have been 
crowded down to the danger point, if still visible at all; that the 
trend of taxes has been upward, with alarming rapidity; and that the 
overhead costs of machinery, labor, material, and repairs have in- 
creased very greatly. I find myself wondering how long we farmers 
can continue to ignore these other sides of our business, and go on 
producing; how long can we play the game by such a rule and hold 
a winning hand ? 

What then of the future ? This is oft best foretold in the light 
of a knowledge of the past, and there comes to my mind this saying : 

"111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey. 
Where wealth accumulates, and farms decay." 

We are told that when darkness settled over Egypt and she lost her 
place among the great nations of the earth, three per cent of her pop- 
ulation owned ninety-seven per cent of her wealth. When Babylon 
went down, tM^o per cent of her population owned all the wealth. 
When Persia bowed her head, one per cent of her population owned 
all the land. When the great empire of Rome fell, eighteen hundred 
men owned and controlled all the then known world. 

What of our own country? In 1850 our capitalists owned 
thirty-seven per cent of the nation's wealth. In 1870, only twenty 



68 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

years later, they owned sixty-three per cent. In 1920, we find less 
than five per cent of our population listed as paying any income tax 
whatever. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that the wealth of this 
country is concentrated in the hands of some part of that five per 
cent of our population. This affords much food for thought, if we 
will only stop and think. How, in this fair land of ours, rich in every 
resource, under a government of, by, and for the people, could such a 
state of things come to pass? Interwoven throughout the warp and 
woof of the political and industrial history of the states and the nation 
since the reconstruction period following the Civil War, on down to 
the present day, may be found most of the reasons for this condition. 
They are already matters of record and too voluminous to relate here. 
But most of them will be found to be in contravention of some of the 
fundamental ideals of our Government. We farmers, however, are 
not without blame in the matter ; our ears have been deaf to the warn- 
ing long since uttered by one of our leading statesmen, "The price of 
liberty is eternal vigilance." We have followed the pied pipers of 
party politics, not knowing or recking where they led, and too often 
have cast our ballots for measures adverse to our interests. We have 
for the most part ignored every phase of our own business, save but 
one, and that one circumscribed by the farm fence ; namely, produc- 
tion. Produce, produce, produce, has been the beginning and the end 
of our thought and teachings, taking whatever was offered at the 
market, paying whatever was asked for what we needed to buy ; and 
I assert that such a method has in it the germs of an economic slavery, 
just as real and just as dangerous as the serfdom of Russia or the 
Sepoy slavery of India. It is said that the Danish farmer, through 
his marketing organizations, is able to retain eighty to ninety per cent 
of the value of his produce, and that the American farmer, through 
the lack of such effective associations, retains about ten to twenty 
per cent of their value. A bushel of wheat sells for about one dollar, 
while a bushel of puffed wheat sells for about thirty dollars. 

The time is at hand now when the other sides of this great enter- 
prise of farming must have their just share of recognition at the 
hands of the farmers, and we must relieve the business of the handi- 
caps that have been put upon it. We must take a hand in shaping 
and directing the course of our governments, both state and national, 
in some measure more nearly commensurate with our support of them, 
and see to it that agriculture has a fair chance. The questions of 
transportation by road, rail, and water vitally concern farmers and 
their business, as do also distribution, domestic and foreign markets 



BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 69 

and marketing, foreign trade, foreign exchange, credits, and finances. 
These are some of the matters which must have consideration, not 
only separately but relatively, and if farmers are to be heard on these 
matters they must affiliate with organizations that will represent them. 
The organization of the Farm Bureau, county, state and national, is 
a step in the right direction; but mark this well, the doctrine of 
opportunism will neither carry very far, nor long endure, nor will it 
succeed in rallying to its support other kindred organizations. The 
ills that beset us are not so difficult that they can't be cured, but we 
must understand them. The Farm Bureaus must carefully diagnose 
our case and formulate a policy of treatment, not only to make known 
to its members and others the principles for which it stands and the 
goal it strives to reach, but to mark its own progress and avoid 
meandering from its course. If this be done; if a plan be conceived 
in wisdom, not aimed to subvert other lines of enterprise, but deter- 
mined to remove the handicaps under which agriculture, our greatest 
art and our master science, has so long labored ; and if the farmers 
and stockmen of the country will catch the vision of a united coopera- 
tive movement for their own and their country's best interest and 
consecrate themselves to its support, we may with confidence turn our 
faces towards the dawn of a brighter day. 

At this time and at this place we may ask. What part in this 
program will be taken by the College of Agriculture ? Let me remind 
you that these times of adversity are not without their silver lining; 
they are times of real progress. It was after the hard experiences of 
the period from 1889 to 1897 that the renaissance of agricultural edu- 
cation began, the growth, development, and progress of which have 
been without a parallel anywhere, in any field of learning in the world. 
It was then that with but nineteen students regularly enrolled in the 
agricultural course, an appropriation was asked of the state, and given 
by it, to erect a building to be devoted to the study of agriculture, 
which should be the largest yet built for that purpose. They were 
men of vision who asked it and worked for it, as were also they who 
gave it. Let us not forget, however, that the world moves; and 
among other things come, faster than we realize but never fast 
enough, the changes in our curricula. Each generation sets up a 
new list of requirements and each is deemed necessary and essential ; 
and perhaps at the time and under the conditions prevailing some of 
them are. Were I to pass a general criticism on the schooling of 
today, it would be this, and it applies all the way from our grade 
schools on up : that in fitting a student for a particular line of work 



70 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

the emphasis has been too much on the work and not enough on the 
student as a man and a future citizen ; too much stress on material 
success, too little on his obligations to society and the state ; in short, 
too much on selfish aims and not enough on service. For it always 
has been, still is, and will continue to be one of the verities of life, 
that it matters not if a man gain the whole world, if he be lacking 
in some of these attributes of character he fails of success. It is not 
by what we have or acquire in a material way, nor yet by our intel- 
lectual attainments, but by what manner of men we are, that we be 
judged. And in this country of ours, under this form of government, 
which holds so much of promise for mankind, but is as yet in the 
experimental stage, our ideals and character as a people are vital. 

In retrospect, I see the College of Agriculture, like the farmer, 
with Its attention focused mainly and largely on production. In 
prospect, I see it with a wider outlook on the business, grappling 
with the other sides of farming, sifting them to the bottom, winnowing 
out their underlying principles and instilling them into the minds 
of the young men who come here to be informed on this subject, and 
from whose ranks we shall draw leaders, well trained and grounded 
in these principles, to carry forward the cause of agriculture, serve it, 
and ably represent it. It is not enough for the state to teach a man 
how to produce ; it must teach him how to protect what he produces. 

Twenty years ago when the then new Agricultural Building was 
completed, it was dedicated to "Agriculture, The Master Science"; 
and across its front it bears this inscription, "The wealth of Illinois 
is in her soils and her safety lies in their intelligent development." 
At that time, nothing could have been more fitting or appropriate, and 
the development of the scientific side of agriculture has borne fruits 
of inestimable value. This work, of course, must go on ; but were 
it for me to say what should be the dedication of the College for the 
next twenty years, I should say "Agriculture, our Greatest Business," 
and I would paraphrase the inscription the present building bears, as 
follows : "The wealth of Illinois is in her young men and women, 
and her safety lies in their intelligent development." 

To the business of agriculture then and the men who are going 
to transact it and represent it, would I direct your attention. In- 
stead of doubting if this prospect can be realized, I am full of hope 
that it will be and with confidence await what lies ahead. 




THE FARM BUREAU 

E. T. ROBBINS, Farm Adviser, DeJVitt County 

EN YEARS of Farm Bureau work in Illinois are already 
a matter of history, and the record reveals significant 
changes in aims and methods. Begun primarily to extend 
agricultural education among busy farmers, the Farm 
Bureau's major efforts are now directed in business chan- 
nels. This has been a logical and natural change. The 
Farmers' Institute, the Short Course and the agricultural shows were 
already covering much of the agricultural extension field. As soon 
as a Farm Bureau converted a man to the use of limestone, for ex- 
ample, the immediate question was where, when, and how to buy it. 
When a Farm Bureau assisted a man to purchase the limestone, he 
vi^as actually initiated into its use ; otherwise he seldom made the start. 
It was just so with rock phosphate, alfalfa, sweet clover, pasture mix- 
tures, soybeans, improved varieties of grain, and pedigreed live stock. 
Then followed the necessity of finding a market for any resulting pro- 
duct, such as sweet clover seed, soybeans, Percherons, or Shorthorns, 
whose marketing channels were not already well beaten paths. The 
Farm Bureau exchange list quickly established itself as a regular and 
valuable feature of the periodical communications sent to the members. 
County association live-stock sales became a necessity. 

These business features of the work have tied the membership 
more closely together than purely educational projects could do. Men 
will flock to a stock show, a horse race, or even a street dog fight ; they 
will attend a meeting where dollars tell of business achievement. 
Action attracts where mere mental stimulus is ineffective. But when 
gathered for the consideration of business problems of local, state, or 
national scope, farmers are ready to grasp incidentally new ideas for 
improving farm production. Agricultural teaching has found its 
most attentive farm audiences at business meetings. 

The Farm Bureau Built from the Ground Up 

The Farm Bureau is unique among farm organizations because 
it is founded upon individual paid memberships, secured through the 
initiative of natural local leaders. It is built from the ground up, not 
from the top down. The overhead organizations of state and na- 
tional scope are the outgrowth of these county units, developed by 
them to concentrate the influence of the thousands and millions of in- 

71 



72 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

dividual farmers. There is nothing dominating or paternal about 
the Illinois Agricultural Association, for instance. On the other 
hand, it is the mouthpiece and the active servant of the individual 
farmer and draws its authority from him through the county Farm 
Bureau. Its special work is to conduct for the individual member the 
legislative, transportation, and marketing projects which require com- 
bined power. 

Rational leadership is an absolute essential in Farm Bureau or- 
ganizations. Safe, sane, conservative men are the best guides to steady 
the course of action suggested by many enthusiastic minds. The di- 
rectors of Farm Bureaus and of their state and national associations 
have developed their plans with commendable care and patient de- 
liberation. The best proof of this is the success of every important 
project which has already had time for development. Of course, 
paid executives are necessary so as to be always on the job, to carry 
the plans of the directors to successful conclusion, and, incidentally, to 
suggest new projects and plans. So far, there has been great respon- 
sibility placed upon the farm advisers and upon the state and na- 
tional paid officials. We are working a comparatively new field. It 
is much more difficult to work out a new and practical plan of market- 
ing, for instance, than it will be to carry it on twenty years hence, 
after its details have been fully tested, improved, and established. 

A Diffusion of Responsibility 

In the operation of county Farm Bureaus the present tendency 
favors a rather extended diffusion of responsibility. Township and 
community units, with local chairmen and committees, serve the gen- 
eral wishes and requirements of the members. Live-stock shipping 
associations, dairy, and fruit organizations, and the already established 
cooperative grain companies, with paid managers, are handling the 
initial process of cooperative marketing of farm products. Their 
work is supplemented in a special field by the county breeders' associa- 
tions, with their combined advertising and consignment sales ; thereby 
virtually guaranteeing to the young breeder a market for his purebred 
animals. That alone has marvelously increased the ranks of live-stock 
breeders in recent years. In Tazewell county, in iive years, twenty- 
four young men were added to the list of Percheron breeders because 
of the Tazewell County Percheron Association. 

In thus enlisting the services of many members of a community 
in its development projects and marketing problems, the Farm Bureau 
work derives the benefit of suggestion and advice from minds of var- 



THE FARM BUREAU 73 

ious types and from a multiplicity of viewpoints. Valuable ideas 
have thus been developed. The chances of failure have also been re- 
duced. "In a multitude of counselors there is safety." Then, too 
division of responsibility among many members seems to be the very 
best way to develop strong local leaders, men who will become the 
logical ones to shoulder the cares of the county, state, and national 
federations. 

The local units are sure to be very important factors in the 
future life of the Farm Bureau. It is through them that membership 
enrolment, the collection of dues, and the maintenance of morale can 
be handled most surely and economically. The local leaders and 
committees maintain an intimate and almost daily contact with in- 
dividual members, which it is impossible to secure in any other way. 
The local committeemen are absolutely necessary in conducting mem- 
bership campaigns. In fact if they should handle the details of this 
work with little outside assistance, it would probably be the ideal con- 
dition. 

Through the local organizations the special needs of the com- 
munity, such as chinch bug control or any other local project, can 
best be ascertained and met. The burning of chinch bugs, for ex- 
ample, is necessarily a local project, requiring the cooperation of every 
farmer in the territory. It cannot succeed in any other way. Any 
such efforts which enlist the attention of a large share of the local 
residents serve to develop and strengthen the spirit of cooperation. 
Fortunately this spirit is already a factor in community life, as dis- 
played in exchange of labor in threshing and shelling. It is only 
necessary to extend this fellowship into the range of more compre- 
hensive enterprises. 

Local units also serve to keep the weak members in line. There 
is much opposition to Farm Bureau work by those business men who 
fear that eventually it may cut into their profits in one w^ay or another. 
By organized propaganda and individual knocking, they have at- 
tempted to discredit cooperative work and discourage members of 
farmers' organizations. It is difficult to conceive the state of mind of 
anyone who w^ould be prejudiced by such disparaging talk from an out- 
sider, but the actual fact is that Farm Bureau members here and 
there have become dissatisfied as a result of the so-called friendly tips 
of their business enemies. Continual boosting by well-informed and 
broad-minded local leaders is necessary in order effectually to counter- 
act the poison which is thus steadily injected into the veins of farmers' 
organizations. Little progress can be made when half of us are push- 



74 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

ing forward and the other half pushing backward. The full meas- 
ure of success by the Farm Bureaus can be attained only when the 
great majority of farmers are enthusiastic members. 

Standardizing Farm Practises 

The Farm Bureaus are gradually standardizing farm practise in 
various localities. Hitherto the principal accomplishment in this 
line has been in the introduction of farm implements by dealers. The 
result has been a more rapid agricultural advancement in the use of 
improved machinery than in the adoption of pedigreed live stock, or 
high yielding varieties of crops, or the extension of soil conservation 
methods. It is up to the Farm Bureaus to convert their members to 
the use of those improved methods which are not pushed by salesmen ; 
and they will do it more conservatively and more satisfactorily. The 
same crop rotations or live-stock interests which make money for one 
farmer should also prove profitable for his neighbor under similar cir- 
cumstances. Local demonstrations and community meetings serve to 
convince skeptical neighbors that their methods can be improved. One 
farmer in DeWitt county told me the other day that he never saw 
a soybean until he went to a farm demonstration meeting two miles 
from his home, where the crop had been raised continuously for 
twelve years. 

Some real persuasion is necessary to deflect a man from his chosen 
system of farming, inherited perhaps from his father. The business 
side of the question is what convinces ; and the Farm Bureau can 
present the problem and its solution in dollars and cents under home 
conditions. In the future we may well expect more progress to be 
made through farm management studies based on actual farm ac- 
counts, than by any other means. We know that under present de- 
pressing conditions many farmers are making nothing on their in- 
vestment and are getting nothing for their own work, while some of 
their neighbors are making five per cent and in addition some hundreds 
of dollars annually to pay for their own time. Such disparity has ap- 
peared every year since farm management studies were begun. The 
Farm Bureau is peculiarly and almost exclusively situated so as to 
turn such figures to practical account in the community. 

As farmers become accustomed to calling at the county Farm 
Bureau office to confer about their problems, and form the habit gen- 
erally of attending local business and demonstration meetings, it will 
be possible for one farm adviser to serve a larger number of members 
than has been the case during these pioneer years. There will be less 



THE FARM BUREAU 75 

farm visiting and more conferences with groups of members. As time 
goes on, we shall doubtless develop a well defined system for main- 
taining intact the county organization and local units, which are the 
absolutely necessary foundation for effective state and national or- 
ganizations for legislative and marketing purposes. That will sim- 
plify the work; but initiative, resourcefulness, originality, determina- 
tion and a thoro acquaintance with farm problems will still be re- 
quired of farm advisers. Probably the principal reason for the prom- 
inence of Illinois in Farm Bureau affairs is that the men for this work 
have been rigidly selected and suitably paid and have been expected 
to secure commensurate results. 

Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products 

The marketing of farm products is certain to become generally 
cooperative. We are making rapid progress in this project because of 
the concerted efforts of county, state, and national associations all 
along the line. Local shipping associations affiliated with the Farm 
Bureaus are already an assured success because of their demonstrated 
economy in consigning live stock to market. Their membership and 
shipments grow month by month. The cooperative commission com- 
panies so far established at the markets leave no cause to doubt that 
they will satisfactorily, economically, and permanently bridge the gap 
between live-stock producer and manufacturer. The wool pool has 
weathered a stormy early life and emerged into a smoothly function- 
ing and efficient marketing partner of the Farm Bureau. The I. A. 
A. potato pool last fall distributed through the Farm Bureaus the best 
potatoes ever bought by Illinois farmers and at prices which dealers 
could not meet. The local cooperative grain companies are gaining 
in number and prestige through persistent boosting by Farm Bureaus. 
The next great movement, already well advanced, is the founding of 
the U. S. Grain Growers, Inc., whose local footing and financial 
backing are founded upon the county Farm Bureaus. The successful 
development of this project, in the face of the most powerfully financed 
opposing propaganda ever confronting American farmers, will surely 
be accomplished, and that of itself will be worth to the farmers of 
America all the costs of all the Farm Bureau work for all time. This 
immense gain will not be secured through domination of markets but 
through small economies and various small items of profits incident 
to the transfer of grain from the producer to the consumer. 



76 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

The Farm Bureaus have led farmers into greater progress in the 
last ten years than in the thirty years preceding. While the cost has 
reached a considerable total, it is small as apportioned to each member 
and as measured in results. Every Farm Bureau member gets full re- 
turns on his investment, even if he makes no effort to do so. And yet 
it is our duty to make the work both economical and efficient to the 
greatest degree. Farm Bureau directors should not be mere enthu- 
siasts ; they should be farmers who succeed in the financial management 
of their own farms, who appreciate values and who can fairly calcu- 
late returns on an investment. We are now passing through the most 
expensive period of Farm Bureau work, just at the time when farm 
finances are at low ebb. In pioneering these marketing efforts, for 
example, we cannot accurately forecast the returns on all the outlay 
in cash and effort. Some expenditures will eventually prove to have 
been unproductive, and this adds to the final cost. It is much more 
expensive to invent and try out new plans than to execute old and es- 
tablished systems ; but the initial steps must somehow be taken or no 
revision of agricultural methods will be effected. As fast as these new 
systems are developed, it will be possible to lop off introductory fea- 
tures, and thereby save much expense. Delegating a large measure 
of responsibility to the local marketing units is calculated to effect 
economy as well as to stimulate loyalty, and this principle again co- 
incides with the prominence we attach to the local units in the Farm 
Bureau. Overhead control should not be sufficient to dominate, but 
merely to coordinate systematically the work of local marketing 
agencies. So far as we have gone in these projects, these principles 
have been followed. Even the centralization provided in the U. S. 
Grain Growers, Inc., extends only to the point of concentrating sales 
into sufficient volume ; and full local representation is provided in the 
management. 

Publicity of Subject Matter and of Aims 

Publicity is a necessary feature of Farm Bureau work. Period- 
ical communications from the county office are needed by individual 
members to keep them fully informed concerning the business and ed- 
ucational features of the work, not only within the county but in the 
state and nation at large. They should have in concrete form such 
information as can be useful in improving their individual businesses 
and the cooperative enterprises in which they are engaged. This can 
be shaped in an attractive form to fit local conditions and to anticipate 
the inquiries which would naturally arise from time to time. The 



THE FARM BUREAU 77 

county publication or circular letter which is sent to all of the mem- 
bers, not only supplies the information and encouragement which 
every individual should have, but it furnishes material for the active 
member to use in boosting the Farm Bureau among his indifferent as- 
sociates. The more any member knows about the aims, methods, and 
accomplishments of his organization, the greater his loyalty will be 
and the more he will profit from it. Greater knowledge will also 
fortify him against the insidious influence of propaganda from dealers 
who oppose him. 

The boys' and girls' clubs carry this publicity idea into the 
future. They train the next generation of farmers to appreciate the 
vast improvement which is possible in general agricultural practise. 
Club work cultivates a high appreciation of fellowship and mutual 
interest in the projects and problems of the farm. The young folks 
learn to keep cost accounts, which are certain to stimulate a desire for 
economical and profitable marketing. The club members now will 
undoubtedly become the Farm Bureau leaders a few years hence. 
Their present-day interest and enthusiasm are also sure to spread to 
their parents and their associates, so that the benefit of club work is 
far-reaching. 

Publicity in the local and county newspapers is also necessary in 
order to give the general public a fair understanding of the purposes 
of the farmers' organizations. There are many who profess to be- 
lieve that a farmer's sole duty to himself and the nation is to produce, 
to take up his position between the corn rows and in the feed lot and 
limit his operations to the confines of his line fences. The general 
public has been imposed upon so much in the past by various trade 
monopolies and trusts that there is natural suspicion of any new mark- 
eting venture and opposing interests make the most of this prejudice 
in their propaganda. Fortunately, there is no occult objective for 
farmers' cooperative organizations. Efficient and economical mark- 
eting is the aim, and that cannot injure the consumer. It will hurt 
only those who now profit unduly at the expense of both producer and 
consumer. Consequently, it is best for all concerned to give general 
publicity to the purposes for which farmers are organized. An 
honestly enlightened consuming public will welcome and assist their 
advance. Those whose present business may be encroached upon may 
then see the light and readjust their operations along lines of greater 
service to the community. 



78 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Future Work 

There will always be plenty of work for the Farm Bureaus to do. 
Constantly shifting production and trade problems the world over are 
sure to necessitate readjustments in rotations, in live-stock breeding 
and feeding, and in marketing operations from time to time ; and the 
Farm Bureau is the logical means of putting the necessary changes 
promptly into effect. A feature just now is a sensible reduction in 
corn production by replacing part of the acreage with soil-improving 
legume crops. Only concerted local agitation and persuasion will get 
us anywhere with this proposition. If we had been sufficiently or- 
ganized to cut down the corn acreage a year ago when the need was 
plainly apparent and was strongly urged, we could have averted a 
corn-belt catastrophe. We must depend upon the Farm Bureaus to 
guide production along necessary and profitable channels, without the 
disastrous overproduction and underproduction at times which have 
featured our agricultural history. When our lands have been farmed 
longer there will also be greater attention demanded by the fertility 
question. New marketing problems are sure to arise, and always 
there will be the demand for developing and introducing those sys- 
tems of farm management which best conform to changing economic 
conditions. 




THE ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION 

D, O. Thompson, Secretary, Chicago 

F I were to figure out what seems to me to be the start of 
the Illinois Agricultural Association, so far as I can get 
it from the record today, I would go back to the graduat- 
ing class of '76. If I were a philosopher, I would sit 
down and meditate upon the question as to whether the 
state of Illinois could not well have built an institution — 
an educational institution — back in those years, for the sole purpose 
of graduating one student in the year of '76 who would have upon 
the agriculture of the state of Illinois the influence that that one 
graduate has had. I believe the investment in the whole institution 
would have been worth while, just for that one thing. 

Seven years ago in this building, for which the Dean of Agri- 
culture and the Farmers' Institute worked so hard, there met a group 
of Farm Bureau officers who had been coming here for a few years 
with the farm advisers in order to see if there were not a few things 
which they had in common which they might discuss, and perhaps 
form a sort of loose organization. Following that a meeting was 
held at Ottawa. After much discussion and argument, the organi- 
zation was formed. I think the greatest amount of debate was as to 
whether it should be called the Illinois Agricultural Association or 
the Illinois Agricultural and Live Stock Association. Mr. Herman 
Danforth was elected president. He was president of the Farm 
Bureau in Tazewell county; and Mr. E. T. Robbins, the farm 
adviser in that county, was elected secretary of the organization. 
Some years later Mr. John Kirkton, of the Livingston County Farm 
Bureau, was elected president and Mr. R. C. Bishop, farm adviser 
in that county, was elected secretary. Some time later, Mr. Kirkton 
continuing in office, Mr. Leonard, who was president of the Wood- 
ford County Farm Bureau, was elected secretary; and it was during 
that time, and immediately after the war period, that the Association 
undertook its largest program of work. The important thing, to my 
mind, that happened was that the Association, instead of continuing 
on as an association of groups of farmers, was changed to be an 
association of individual farmer members. At that time, Mr. Harvey 
Sconce was elected president, and I was hired as secretary and since 
that time have been trying to do everything except to get the fellows 
down East to come out here and eat their pork chops out in the feed 
lots. 

79 



80 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

I am always glad to give suggestions as to what we should try 
to do. I gave to most of you, a week ago or two weeks ago, a resume 
of the work of the Association during the past year — which was 
really a resume of three years, — and I think I shall not take time 
now to go into that. In my mind the work of the Association is 
shaping itself into some pretty definite things; and I can see in the 
future, at least a little way into the future, that if it is to meet the 
situation as it should be met there must be some shifts — some changes 
in the form of the administration of the Association, some shifts in 
the lines of work pursued, and a very clear-cut, well-defined policy 
of work arrived at during the coming year, so that stakes for the 
future can be set up based on right conclusions. 

I believe that there will be one department of cooperative market- 
ing in the Association. Now that will not all happen this year; 
but it is going to happen some time in the future, when some of this 
preliminary stuff has been worked out. And I know as well as I 
know that, that there will be a department of finance, taking in the 
questions of revenue, taxation, farm financing, and farm credit; these 
are the subjects that such a department is going to handle, study and 
put itself in position to work on. It will have to follow a pretty 
definite policy ; it must know pretty definitely where it is going, and 
then it must work to get there. Then there will be a department 
of transportation. The immediate question before the house is 
freight rates, but that is the least of our questions. Under the head 
of transportation, we have a road question. The farmer has a tre- 
mendous road question, and under the same head he has the water- 
way question. Transportation in the future is going to mean, in this 
organization, more than a reduction of freight rates. Then there is 
going to be a general legislative department, which will be tied up 
perhaps with the legal department, perhaps not; I do not know 
whether the farmers want the law tied up with the legislative de- 
partment or not. But questions of law and legislation will be 
grouped fairly close together. Then there will be, of course, the 
general administrative department of the Association. 

Now, I do not claim to be a prophet, but I am willing to prophesy 
on this particular thing as coming true in the life of the Association. 
It must come if the Association is going to serve its place as one of 
the several factors in the agricultural life of the state of Illinois. If 
the Association, as a volunteer association of farmers of the state, is 
going to make the third point in the triangle, with the State College 
of Agriculture and Experiment Station, and the State Department 



THE I. A. A. 81 

of Agriculture, — if it is to take its place there, these things are going 
to have to come true. Furthermore, in the future, the farmers of 
the state of Illinois are going to need to call more and more to ser- 
vice in that organization men who know the business aspects of farm- 
ing, for these are business questions the proper answers to which de- 
termine the answer to the question that is in the mind of more than 
one of my pals, "Can I afford to farm? Can I take a chance on 
farming?" Until that question can be answered positively, in the 
affirmative, the young man hasn't much business thinking about it. 

What has been borne in on me in fifteen or seventeen years spent 
around among the farm people of the states of Indiana, Illinois, and 
Wisconsin is that a "punkin," no matter how big it is nor how good 
looking it is, isn't any good as a farm product unless it will pay a 
profit. You can grow a better animal or a better ear of corn; and 
you can inspire a man to do that; but unless you can teach. him how 
to get his money out of it and live, you haven t taught him much. 

As I see the job of the I. A. A. in the future, it is to take its 
place as the third point of that triangle — the University and Experi- 
ment Station, the State Department of Agriculture, and here a vol- 
unteer association of farmers in the I. A. A. It is going to have a 
glorious part to play in its time, almost as glorious as the pioneer in 
the field — that other great institution in this state, the Farmers' In- 
stitute — played in its time. 




AN INTERNATIONAL CROP REPORTING 
SERVICE 

Harvey J. Sconce, United States Delegate to the International Institute 
of Agriculture at Rome, Sidell 

HEN the American delegation, consisting of three delegates, 
attended the International Institute of Agriculture at 
Rome in November, 1920, they decided that the para- 
mount issue of this nation was a better crop-reporting 
service for the world, and their united efforts were 
extended in this direction. 
At the meeting of the General Assembly, America was honored 
and our crop-reporting service was duly recognized as the best of the 
entire world, to the extent that Mr. L. M. Estebrook, one of the dele- 
gates and Chief of the Bureau of Crop Estimates of the Department 
of Agriculture at Washington, was chosen chairman of the Second 
Commission which had to do with crop estimates and statistics. 

The Need of Accurate, Complete, and Timely Statistics 

I was also placed on this commission with Mr. Estebrook; and 
in an address to the General Assembly I tried to bring before the 
delegates of the fifty-six nations represented, the attitude of America 
relative to a world crop-reporting service, and to show how essential 
it was that each country should have a reliable system of statistics 
that would be accurate and timely. I outlined the present condition 
to them, showing that only a few countries had any system that was 
dependable, while other nations had little or no service whatever; 
also that some of the countries who were attempting to report crop 
statistics did so at such a late date that the information was worthless 
so far as the markets of the world were concerned. I attempted to 
show further that the systems of different countries varied in detail 
so much that by the time the reports were received, the information 
translated, and the figures of the foreign nation converted into the 
units of our nation, so much time had elapsed that the resulting 
information was without value. I urged that a standard system be 
adopted, and that this service should embrace a complete agricultural 
census: statistics and estimates of acreage; yields per acre and total 
production of all crops grown; numbers of different classes, sexes, 
ages, and breeds of all live stock; crop and live-stock forecasting; 
farm and market prices; crop, live-stock and land values; popula- 

82 



AN INTERNATIONAL SERVICE 83 

tion and per capita consumption; imports and exports; stocks on 
hand ; surpluses and deficits ; supply and demand ; trends of produc- 
tion, consumption, and prices. 

It was urged that this information, to be of the greatest value 
to the adhering nations must be timely, dependable, and unbiased, in 
order that it might be used with confidence as a guide to production 
and marketing programs. Much information regarding foreign agri- 
culture is available in past and current literature, official bulletins and 
reports, and unofficial trade papers. However, a great deal is not 
available in any form and the information that is available is mostly 
historical, incomplete, and fragmentary, and neither systematically 
arranged nor promptly accessible. In fact, it is information that has 
passed its greatest usefulness and really has no bearing on present 
conditions. 

At present this nation is receiving agricultural reports and bulle- 
tins from foreign nations, but the crop reporters are dilatory in get- 
ting their reports ready and the printers are also dilatory in getting 
their part of the work done. Another delay is caused in mailing and 
transmitting the bulletins, while a further delay is caused by their 
translation; so that, by the time it is ready for the farmer, the grain 
merchant and the business man, the information is out of date and 
worthless. 

Some of the foreign nations have never taken an agricultural 
census, and others have done so only at infrequent intervals. Informa- 
tion of this kind should be collected at stated intervals and in a 
standardized manner. 

The International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, organized 
in accordance with the international treaty promulgated in 1908, fur- 
nishes, through its monthly and annual bulletins, information relat- 
ing to crop reports, agricultural statistics, agricultural technic, dis- 
eases of plants, and agricultural economics which is of great value. 
However, the reports of the Institute are lacking in completeness; 
many important crops are not covered by the reports. They also 
lack timeliness, because the Institute has no organization and no 
representatives in foreign countries for collecting data, but in accord- 
ance with the international treaty, must depend upon data trans- 
mitted to it by the adhering governments. 

As the adhering governments are without proper organizations 
and methods for collecting these data, the reports of the Institute can 
be no better with respect to accuracy, completeness, and timeliness 
than the original reports transmitted by the adhering governments. 



84 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

A Standard System of Crop Reporting 

After bringing these facts before the Institute, we introduced a 
resolution which was afterward adopted, providing that each adhering 
nation should adopt in the near future a standard system of crop 
reporting; that all the information should be telegraphically com- 
municated to the Institute not later than the tenth of each month ; and 
that bulletins should be compiled and distributed to all the adhering 
nations not later than the twelfth of each month. Each nation 
agreed that it would endeavor to establish a standard system as soon 
as it was possible to get trained experts for the work. 

Agricultural Attaches for Foreign Embassies 

To further facilitate this work of crop reporting, I introduced 
a resolution which was adopted, providing that agricultural attaches 
should be placed in the embassies of the foreign nations to assist the 
adhering nations in gathering the agricultural statistics and in bring- 
ing the system of crop reporting to a greater state of efficiency; 
these attaches to act also as agents for agricultural associations of the 
nations represented. 

It has been suggested that the American consuls in the various 
nations could assist in transmitting crop statistics, and there has been 
a law on the statute books for a quarter of a century requiring the 
American consuls to furnish crop reports to the Secretary of Agri- 
culture through the Secretary of State, but so far this law has been 
a dead letter. The fact of the matter is that the consuls are appointed 
without any regard to their knowledge of agriculture and are not 
trained in agricultural work whatever; therefore, any information 
they might gather is taken from newspapers, trade journals, and other 
sources that are not dependable. They lack the qualifications neces- 
sary to be able to furnish an intelligent report on the agricultural 
conditions of a nation because they are unable to understand clearly 
what is wanted by the Department of Agriculture or to appreciate 
the relative significance and value of information which is accessible 
to them. 

The commercial attaches of the Department of Commerce are 
another possible source of information. However, in the past they 
have rendered no service of value to the Department of Agriculture 
and very little if any to American agriculture. Their primary func- 
tion is to obtain information useful to American business men in 
promoting trade in American manufactures; which in itself is enough 



AN INTERNATIONAL SERVICE 85 

to occupy their entire time, thought, and energy. Their training is 
along other lines than agriculture, and in fact the commercial 
attaches who were interviewed in the foreign nations by the dele- 
gates to the Institute appeared to have very little knowledge of either 
American or foreign agriculture. Without exception, they appeared 
to be wholly ignorant of the fact that the farmers of the United 
States produced in 1920 and 1921 tremendous surpluses for which 
there was no adequate market and which were sold at ruinously low 
prices, causing the loss of millions of dollars and reducing the pur- 
chasing power of farmers approximately one-third to one-half ; which 
reacted disastrously upon business in other industries and caused the 
shutting down of factories resulting in widespread unemployment. 

At the Institute and before the Committee on Foreign Relations 
when we returned from Rome, the American delegation strongly 
urged the placing of agricultural attaches in foreign nations, these 
attaches to be to American agriculture what the commercial attaches 
are to American commerce and industry. As the result of the argu- 
ments before the Committee on Foreign Relations, a small appropria- 
tion was made for this work, and the work has been started in a 
small way. At present the Department of Agriculture has stationed 
Mr. Foley in London and Mr. Bullock in Buenos Aires, and they 
are rendering most efficient service. For instance, this past fall when 
the Department desired prompt information as to the newly sown 
acreage of wheat in Argentine, the Department of Commerce was 
notified to get the official figures as soon as available and cable 
them. At the same time the same question was asked Mr. Bullock, 
who cabled the desired figures within forty-eight hours. A week 
later the Department of Commerce wrote that the Argentine figures 
would not be available for another month. This shows the value of 
having a man on the spot to render service when it is needed. 

Last June three cotton specialists were sent to the World Cotton 
Convention at Liverpool and the International Chamber of Commerce 
meeting at London. Two of these men remained abroad long enough 
to visit the principal cotton ports and cotton milling centers in Europe, 
as well as the Nile Valley and Palestine. They obtained information 
of much value, especially with respect to marketing prospects and 
the possibilities of expanding trade in cotton in Poland. In the late 
summer a specialist in the meat packing trade, Mr. E. C. Squire, 
was sent to Europe. He has been collecting and forwarding valuable 
data with respect to stocks of dairy and meat products on hand, 
demand, prices, and trade conditions. 



86 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

In October Professor G. F. Warren of Cornell and Mr. W. F. 
Callander of the Bureau of Markets were sent to Europe to study 
sources of information, as well as public and private statistical in- 
formation on economic conditions, to arrange with the various 
officials for the prompt interchange of crop reports by mail and cable, 
and to formulate a systematic plan for the regular flow of agricultural 
statistics and economic data to the Department of Agriculture to 
supplement the information of the International Institute. Both 
Professor Warren and Mr. Callander report that the commercial 
attaches are not qualified to obtain information on agriculture because 
of their limited commercial viewpoint. 

In November Mr. Michaels, formerly with the Food Admin- 
istration in Russia, was employed and sent to Southeastern Europe 
to collect and report upon agricultural conditions. During the past 
summer arrangements have been made to have the commercial 
attaches and American consuls in foreign countries supply certain 
kinds of information under a set of instructions prepared by the 
Bureau of Markets. 

At present the program of the Department of Agriculture is to 
utilize all existing agencies, such as the International Institute of 
Agriculture, the commercial attaches and the consul officers of the 
State Department so far as practicable, and to supplement these 
agencies with agricultural attaches in the principal countries. The 
object is to collect information concerning stocks on hand; consump- 
tion requirements ; surpluses and deficits ; economic sitviations affect- 
ing production, consumption and purchasing power; farm prices and 
agricultural credit; cooperation; the presence of plant and animal 
diseases and insect pests ; and to cable this information to the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture together with important crop reports and notice 
of material changes in crop conditions occurring in the interval 
between official crop reports. 

With the latest and best information of this kind available, the 
Department of Agriculture will arrange for the prompt and wide- 
spread dissemination of the essential facts through the press and 
through regular and special printed reports. If we had at least fifty 
well trained men in foreign fields to assist foreign nations in establish- 
ing a reliable crop reporting service, and to assist in introducing 
American agricultural products to the people of the nations where 
they are stationed as well as to keep American agriculture advised as 
to crop conditions, it would go a long way toward creating an outlet 
for the great surpluses we have on hand at the present time. 




FINANCING FARMING 

J. D. Phillips, Chairman of the Special Committee on Farm Finance, 
State Division American Bankers Association, Green Valley 

HE farmer the same as any other business man, is in need 
of funds to use in the operation and development of his 
business. Some of these funds are used on the commercial 
side of his business and are of short-time maturity, and 
some are needed for the investment side of his business and 
naturally extend over a long period of years. Before com- 
mencing on the rural credits end of this address, I want to say some- 
thing about the Federal Reserve Bank; for the farmers are as much 
interested in the Federal Reserve System as they are in a system that 
will provide for them long-time credit at a reasonable rate of interest. 
The Federal Reserve Banking System is the greatest financial 
legislation ever enacted into law in this or any other country. It is 
not perfect of course, but it has been the financial life-saver not only of 
America but of the Allied countries as well, during the terrible, trying, 
distressing, nation-wrecking and soul-wrecking time we have been 
recently passing through in the World War. While this law needs 
some amending before it will become attractive to the country banker, 
yet be that as it may, over nine thousand of the thirty-two thousand 
banks of America are members of the system, with about sixty-nine 
per cent of the banking resources of the country connected with the 
Federal Reserve Banks. If in due time, and in the natural course of 
business events, it is learned by actual experience that the Federal 
Reserve Banks can pay a small rate of interest on required reserves, 
and such an amendment should be enacted into law, it would be but 
a very short time until every eligible bank in America would join the 
system. The making of over one hundred per cent per annum by 
several of the Federal Reserve Banks, during the past two years, is 
probably responsible for the belief that they will always be able to pay 
at least two per cent on required reserves without encroaching on 
commercial banking in any way. Should the experience of the banks in 
the next few years prove the fallacy of such an opinion, it will of 
course stop the agitation along these lines for all time; but on the 
other hand, should actual experience, after due trial, without hastily 
jumping at conclusions, prove the theorists to be wrong, no power 
on earth can stop legislation along the above named lines. 

There has been a great deal of unwarranted criticism, principally 
by politicians, against the officers of the Federal Reserve Banks and 

87 



88 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

the Federal Reserve Board, in regard to their dealings with the agri- 
cultural needs of the country, it being claimed that the farmer has 
not received his just proportion of assistance during the trying times 
v^^e are now passing through. A careful analysis of the situation proves 
the very opposite of this to be true. 

According to a report made by Governor McDougal in January, 
1921, all the member banks of a great agricultural state had borrowed 
at one time 470 per cent of their reserve deposits, or in other words 
almost five times their required reserve; while the largest borrowing 
bank in the district had 233.3 per cent of their reserve deposits bor- 
rowed and all member banks in Chicago had 143.8 per cent borrowed. 
On October 1, 1921, all member banks of this agricultural state had 
344.4 per cent borrowed, while the largest bank in the district had 
21.9 per cent borrowed, and all member banks in Chicago had 40.1 
per cent borrowed. I don't believe that we farmers have any fault 
to find with the Federal Reserve System, in the treatment we have 
received through the country banks, w^hen the facts are known. 

Another thing, the Federal Reserve Banking System saved every 
section of this country while the whole world was going on to the 
rocks of financial chaos. The Federal Reserve Banks of the North, 
without compulsion of any kind, went to the assistance of the agri- 
cultural interests of the South and West. At one time the Federal 
Reserve Bank of Cleveland alone, loaned to the Reserve Banks of the 
West and South no less than $145,800,000. 

While the Federal Reserve System has performed its duties in 
supplying the farmer and others with short-time credits, the Federal 
Farm Land Bank has not done so well in supplying funds for the 
permanent, or investment, side of the farmer's business. This busi- 
ness has been handled by country banks, investment bankers, mort- 
gage loan associations, lawyers, or most anyone else who could get 
enough money together to make a loan on the most favorable terms 
possible to themselves. I do not wish to be understood as finding 
fault with the men in this kind of business, because I am one of them ; 
it is the system that we are after and hope to correct if possible. 

For the past eight or ten j^ears I have been profoundly impressed 
with the need of some means whereby the investing public and the 
holders of farm mortgages could be brought together, but until about 
a year ago our ideas have all been of an abstract nature. In the 
latter part of February, 1921, the Executive Committee of the State 
Bank Division of the American Bankers Association met in New 
Orleans and this subject was thoroly discussed by the farmer member 
(your humble servant) of that committee. At the next convention. 



FINANCING FARMING 89 

held in Los Angeles, the special committee of five on Farm Finance, 
of which the speaker is chairman, was appointed. 

This committee met in Chicago, and after considering the matter 
decided it would be better to develop machinery already established 
than to build new machinery. A subcommittee was created to fur- 
ther consider the matter and recommend whether in their judgment 
an amendment to the Federal Land Bank Act was the right thing. 
The subcommittee has had a number of meetings and a joint con- 
ference with a committee of the American Farm Bureau Federation, 
and our opinion is that the law should be so amended that all in- 
corporated banks might become members of the Federal Farm Land 
Banks. Such an arrangement would immediately provide thousands 
of well-equipped, permanent, local headquarters for the system. It 
would also insure the services of experienced financial men, would 
guarantee the making of safe loans based on conservative values, and 
would save all the overhead costs of local associations, for the banks 
could handle the additional business with little, if any, additional 
overhead expenses. Member banks would be required to subscribe 
to the capital stock of the Federal Land Bank in their respective 
districts. 

Commissions would be allowed member banks for originating 
mortgage business, the same as the law now provides for farm loan 
associations; and the same compensation would be allowed member 
banks for collections of interest and amortization payments, the super- 
vision of the payment of taxes, and the submission of occasional re- 
ports to the Federal Land Banks. 

All the duties of the local associations would be assumed by the 
member banks; but while they would guarantee the genuineness and 
regularity of each loan they should not be required to guarantee the 
payment of the loan, for it would be unwise and unnecessary for the 
banks to assume this contingent liability. Any farm loan that cannot 
stand on its own individual merit, without the aid or assistance of 
other loans or the endorsement of any organization of any kind, ought 
not to be made. Under the double safeguard of the judgment of 
both the bank and the Government, there could be no excuse for ever 
losing a dollar on a single loan. Under such a system, the farmer 
would do his business through his local banker, the one person to 
whom he prefers to go with his financial problems; and the banker 
in turn could supply his farmer customers with the needed funds for 
their investments without freezing up the assets of the bank to the 
danger point. 



90 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

There is no better security in the world than a farm mortgage, 
properly made, not even a Government bond itself. While I have 
no desire to place any security above a Government bond, I do wish 
to say that when farm mortgages become worthless in this country, 
the Government obligation will have little or no value. The Farm 
Loan Bonds, based on such a security, ought soon to become very 
popular with the investing public, and hence ought to supply to the 
farmer the necessary funds for his investment needs at a rate of in- 
terest that M^ould compare favorably with industrial undertakings that 
finance their fixed investments through long-term bonds. 

Up to the present time the Federal Land Banks have sold that 
portion of their bonds not taken by the United States Government, 
through selling syndicates made up of the leading bond houses of the 
country, but a sufficient number of the bonds have not been sold to 
make possible the continuous operation of the system. With a well- 
organized sales force, the Federal Land Board might act as a syndicate 
manager of future selling syndicates, including the leading bond 
houses, mortgage companies, and the member banks throughout the 
country. Under this plan each offering of bonds would be sold 
through the organization of a national selling campaign that would 
carry the appeal to every investor in the land. This would not only 
insure the rapid sale of the bonds, but would make possible their dis- 
tribution at the lowest underwriting cost consistent with good service 
on the part of the distributors. And, as Mr. George Woodruff said 
in his address before the convention of the American Farm Bureau 
Federation at Atlanta, Georgia, "In order that Farm Loan Bonds 
might enjoy a continuous and broad market it might eventually be 
deemed wise for the Farm Loan Board to list them on the principal 
exchanges of the country, as was done with Liberty Bonds, and their 
popularity as a medium for safe investment of the savings of the 
people should ultimately become second only to that of the bonds of 
the Nation itself." 

With the Federal Land Bank Act thoroly Americanized and 
developed along the lines I have been talking about, we will have 
an institution rivaling, if you please, in grandeur, strength, and ability 
to serve along its particular lines, the greatest financial institution 
ever established in the world for commercial purposes, namely, the 
Federal Reserve Banking System, With these two banking systems 
in the country, properly functioning, I do not believe there will be 
any need for an intermediate financial institution to care for the 
so-called two- and three-year paper that we hear so much talk about 
in political circles. 




THE BUSINESS OF FARMING IN SOME OF 
ITS LARGER ASPECTS 

Thomas Nixon Carver, Harvard University 

[HE BUSINESS problems of the farmer are of two kinds, 
administrative and commercial. The first has to do with 
the wise direction of the working force of the farm in the 
production of crops, the other with buying and selling. The 
latter grows more and more important with progress be- 
cause fewer and fewer things are produced on the farm 
while, at the same time, a greater and greater variety of things are 
used on the farm or consumed by the farmer's family. This requires 
more and more buying and selling. The farmer's prosperity will 
therefore depend more and more on his skill as a buyer and seller. 

Administrative Problems 

The administrative problems, however, are still of great im- 
portance. These consist in the directing of the whole productive 
force on the farm in the growing of crops and animal products. The 
acute phase of this problem, however, consists in paying expenses out of 
receipts. Almost anybody could run almost any business if he did 
not have to pay the bills. Many a man can grow good crops and 
breed good animals, who can't keep expenses down below the price at 
which they can be sold. Contrary to a rather widespread opinion 
among farmers, farming is not an exception to the general rule. It 
is no harder to pay the bills out of the receipts in farming than in any 
other business. It is inherent in the very nature of competitive in- 
dustry that there should be failures. No matter how good a business 
man you are, speaking absolutely, if you are much below the average, 
speaking relatively, you will never be able to pay your expenses out 
of your receipts. Other and better business men than you are will 
offer so much to get labor, raw materials, machines, equipment, etc., 
and offer their products at so low a price, that you will be unable to 
stay in the same game with them. Your wage bill, your deterioration 
charge, your interest and other overhead expenses will be more than 
your receipts will cover. If your competitors were not quite so efficient 
and would not offer quite such high wages for labor, or quite such 
high prices for raw materials and equipment, you could, of course, cut 
down your expenses. If at the same time, they would not offer the 
finished product at quite so low a price, you could increase your re- 

91 



92 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

ceipts; but the difficulty is that your pesky competitors will keep on 
bidding against you, offering high prices for what you have to buy 
and low prices for what you have to sell, thus forcing you to the wall 
unless you are approximately as good a business man as they are. If 
you fall materially below the standard set by them you will fail. 
There is no business or profession to which this rule does not apply 
just as definitely and rigidly as it does to farming. 

Prices and Profits 

This being the case there is no such thing as "cost plus ten per 
cent," or "a living plus ten per cent" for any except the more capable 
farmers, if the ten per cent is to be realized on the price of the land 
as well as on the rest of the investment. There will always be a con- 
siderable number who are just hovering on the margin, and another 
number who are below the margin and headed toward bankruptcy. 
This cannot be prevented, even by government price fixing. If the 
government were to fix the price of corn at two dollars a bushel and 
maintain it, guaranteeing to every farmer without exception that 
price, it would still be almost as difficult for the inefficient corn 
grower as it is now. To begin with, the price of corn land would 
go up. If any of you own good corn land, you would not sell it 
under those conditions at the price which you are now willing to take. 
If you are contemplating buying corn land, you would be willing to 
pay a higher price, under those conditions, than you are now willing 
to pay. This competitive bidding for land would go on precisely as 
it does now. The best business men among corn farmers, — that is, 
those who could organize the working force of the farm so thoroly as 
to keep expenses down or to get the largest possible number of bushels 
per unit of expense — could afford to pay and would, as a matter of 
fact, pay a higher price for corn land than the less capable farmers 
could possibly afford to pay. The inefficient farmer would have just 
as hard a time paying for his land if he bought it, or paying rent for 
his land if he rented it, as he now has. Again, the efficient manager 
who could so direct his labor force as to get more corn per man em- 
ployed than the inefficient farmer, could afford to pay higher wages 
for his help. The poorer farmer would be crowded to the wall just 
as definitely as he is now. He would find it just as hard to pay these 
high prices for farm land, and high wages for farm labor, and high 
prices for farm machinery, out of the receipts of his two dollar corn 
as he has in normal times to pay the lower prices or the lower rents, 
wages, etc., out of his receipts from one dollar corn. Of course, the 



LARGER ASPECTS OF FARMING 93 

farmer who gets his land before the rise comes, would enjoy the ad- 
vantage of owning higher priced land, and could get more money for 
it if he ever decided to sell. 

The Unit of Organization 

Again, this is not peculiar to farming. The efficiency with which 
the farmer organizes and directs the working force of his farm has 
many phases, and depends upon the solution of a vast number of de- 
tailed problems. Almost every business, if it is organized at all, is 
organized around some unit, such as a power plant, an expensive 
piece of machinery, or a rarely endowed manager. Some farming en- 
terprises are organized around a mule, a tractor, a plot of land, a fam- 
ily as a working unit, or a manager. In every case the size of the en- 
terprise is determined by the capacity of the unit around which the 
business is organized. Where land it not a merchantable commodity, 
the acreage of the farm itself is not easily increased or decreased. It 
becomes, therefore, the unit around which the business must be or- 
ganized, and the size of the business is necessarily determined by the 
capacity of the farm. Where land is a merchantable commodity, the 
acreage can be increased or decreased to suit the capacity of the man- 
ager. It is his capacity, therefore, rather than the predetermined 
acreage of the farm that determines the size of the business. 

Where the predetermined acreage of the farm is the unit, the 
question is, how intensively to cultivate that acreage; that is, how 
much labor and capital to apply to its cultivation. The answer is 
obvious to every student of economics: As many units of labor and 
capital must be applied as will, one year with another, enable the last 
units applied to just pay for themselves; or the last application of 
labor and capital on the farm to just pay its cost in the increase of 
yield. 

Where there is no predetermined acreage, the manager must re- 
gard his own capacity, rather than the size of the farm, as the limiting 
factor. That is, he must increase or decrease his acreage as freely as 
he would his labor force or his supply of tools and equipment. But 
he must remember that his capacity is as limited as is that of his land 
or that of any part of his equipment. If he tries to run too big a busi- 
ness, he must of necessity give somewhat less attention to details. He 
must spread himself thinly, as it were, over a large business. He 
must, however, enlarge his business until the last unit of a combined 
factor "land-labor-capital" just pays for itself. If he stops short of 
this, so that an additional unit of "land-labor-capital" would more 



94 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

than pay for itself, he will be losing that profit. If he goes too far, 
so that this last unit does not add enough to the total product of the 
business to quite pay the additional cost, — in short, if it does not quite 
pay for itself, — he loses money on it and reduces his free income. 

Balancing the Different Factors of Production 

As to the balancing of the different factors of production in his 
business, the rule is that the last unit added to each factor must add 
exactly as much to the product of the whole as the last unit added to 
each of the other factors. This would be a perfectly balanced farm 
business. If, for example, a farmer has so much land and so little 
equipment that the last forty acres of land adds less to the total crop 
than would have been added if the price of that land had been spent 
on tools and labor, the farm is not well balanced — the farmer is 
land poor. It would pay him to sell some of his land and put the 
money into labor, equipment, etc., if he cannot otherwise balance his 
farm. This illustration could be multiplied or repeated with respect 
to each and every item in the farmer's business inventory. "Nothing 
in excess" must be his ideal; but that ideal is not realized until the 
last unit in each part of his business has exactly as great marginal pro- 
ductivity as the last unit of each and every other part. 

The Commercial Problems of the Farmer — Efficiency 
IN Bargaining 

The commercial problems of the farmer are all summarized in 
the question, how to increase his efficiency in bargaining so as to buy 
and sell to better advantage. More and more the economic world is 
realizing that there is a distinct difference between efficiency in pro- 
duction and efficiency in bargaining. Efficiency in production consists 
in turning out the largest product in porportion to the sum of human 
energy expended in the work of production. Efficiency in bargaining 
consists in buying a given quality at the lowest possible price, or selling 
a given quality at the highest possible price. In many industries the 
size of the business unit is determined quite as much by the question 
of efficiency in bargaining as by the question of efficiency in production. 
Many of the supposed economies of the trust were not economies in 
production at all, but mere advantages in bargaining. Later ex- 
perience has demonstrated that there were few, if any, real economies 
in production in the trust form of organization. This is not saying, 
of course, that there were not many economies in fairly large-scale 



LARGER ASPECTS OF FARMING 95 

production, but we have learned to be skeptical of any alleged econo- 
mies that cannot be reduced to a purely mechanical basis. For ex- 
ample, it takes a large power plant and a lot of powerful machinery 
to roll even one steel rail. When you once have this large equipment, 
of course it pays better to keep it busy. Here you have a definite me- 
chanical reason for fairly large-scale production. 

From the standpoint of bargaining, however, the large concern 
has many advantages over the small concern. It can afford to main- 
tain a larger selling organization with agents located everywhere, 
which agents can "get there first," before the scattered agents of the 
smaller concern can get around. Being able to buy its raw materials 
on a larger scale, it may succeed in getting better bargains. It may 
also be able to handle its labor situation more effectively and make use 
of cheaper grades of labor than the smaller concern. In various 
ways, by either buying or selling to better advantage than the smaller 
concern, it may beat it out. 

The seller is a weak bargainer when the buyer has many other 
opportunities to buy. The buyer is weak when the seller has many 
other opportunities to sell. Collective bargaining on the part of sellers 
reduces the number of other opportunities open to the buyer; when 
practised by buyers it reduces the number of other opportunities open 
to sellers. It is dangerous, first, because it is a game that both sides 
can play; second, because it may become a means of extortion instead 
of a means of defense. 

When Does Collective Bargaining Cease to be a Means of 
Defense and Become a Means of Extortion? 

This is one of the most important questions now before the 
world. When the world really answers it, things will begin to be 
uncomfortable for those who are caught using it as a means of ex- 
tortion, whether they call themselves merchants, manufacturers, labor 
unions, or farmers. The world will tolerate a good deal of collective 
bargaining so long as it is a means of defense on the part of those who 
cannot bargain for enough to give them a decent living. It will not 
stand much more than that. 

Just now our farmers are weak in bargaining power. They are 
justly inclined to turn to collective bargaining as a means of defense. 
I warn them, however, that their present weakness is temporary. 
Europe is impoverished and not able to buy our surplus at remunera- 
tive prices. Our farmers are therefore forced either to sell it to them 
at prices which they can afford to pay, or not to sell at all. They are 



96 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

wisely choosing to sell at such prices as they can get. Our farmers 
are thus feeding Europe at a very low price. This cheap food will be 
the chief factor in the rebuilding of Europe. The difficulty of selling 
to them at a remunerative price is increased by the fact that Europe has 
no money with which to buy our surplus and must pay in goods. Tariff 
legislation hinders her paying in goods. Thus our government is de- 
liberately reducing the power of European countries to buy our sur- 
plus, and thereby forcing our farmers to take still lower prices for 
their surplus than they would otherwise have to take. 

When Europe again resumes normal production there will be a 
pre-war demand for American farm products. The American farmer 
will then come into his own and will no longer need collective bar- 
gaining as a means of defense. If he uses it at all, he will be using it 
as our trusts formerly did and as some of our labor unions are be- 
ginning to use it, as a means of extortion. 

Consider this in connection with another fact ; namely, that our 
farmers are already a minority. That being the case, they cannot 
prevent hostile legislation. When the majority who are not farmers 
discover that the minority who are, are using collective bargaining as 
a means of extortion, our farmers must look out for hostile instead of 
friendly legislation. 

It is interesting to notice at this point a fundamental contrast 
between bargaining power and voting power. In the case of any 
economic class the more numerous it is the greater its voting power, 
but the lower its bargaining power, and vice versa, the fewer its num- 
bers the greater its bargaining power and the less its voting power. 
During the decades of the over-rapid settlement of our western lands, 
the farming population was numerous relatively to the rest of the 
population and had great voting power, but its bargaining power was 
low and all agricultural products had to sell at a low price. The 
tendency at the present time is for our farming population to become 
relatively less numerous, — that is, to increase less than other classes. 
This is materially increasing its bargaining power, as evidenced by 
the higher prices at which farm products sell ; but it is correspond- 
ingly reducing its voting power, and it will never again be able to 
exercise even the moderate amount of control over the policies of 
the Nation that it has exercised in the past. This weakness, however, 
if it be a weakness, is much more than compensated by the higher 
bargaining power that is coming to the agricultural classes. 

Collective bargaining, however, may have two very distinct 
meanings. So long as it is confined to cooperation, in order to get 



LARGER ASPECTS OF FARMING 97 

the advantages of buying by wholesale or of selling in large quantities 
so as to be able to advertise and attract buyers, there is not and never 
can be any valid objection to it. It is only when it reaches the stage 
where it is able to keep the entire supply off the market and thus "hold 
up" the buying or consuming public that it becomes uneconomical and 
dangerous. As suggested above, so long as this extreme method is 
used by the very poorest members of society who are obviously not able 
to get a decent income otherwise, the world is very tolerant; but the 
minute it begins to be used by people who are already as prosperous 
as, or more prosperous than, the average of those of whom they are 
taking advantage, the latter will rebel or will launch a counter attack. 

Effect on Land Values of Fluctuations in Agricul- 
tural Prosperity 

I have suggested already that the present depression of agricul- 
ture is abnormal, and that there are better times ahead for all our 
farmers. It does not take a very long memory to convince one that 
for several years before the outbreak of the war, agriculture was on the 
up-grade. The rise in prices was very general, but the rise in agri- 
cultural prices was a little more rapid than the rise in the general 
price level. As soon as this present aftermath of the war is over, 
there is every reason to think that the pre-war tendency will reestab- 
lish itself. 

These extreme fluctuations in agricultural prosperity furnish an 
interesting problem. Contrary to a very general impression that ag- 
riculture is the most stable of all industries, there is one important 
sense in which it is the least stable of them all. Perhaps it would be 
clearer to say that in some respects agriculture is a relatively stable 
industry, but in other respects it is one of the most unstable of all. 
The instability is associated with the price of farm land and its rela- 
tion to the price of farm products. This relationship can be ex- 
pressed generally by the proposition that a relatively slight change in 
the price of farm products is normally and logically followed by a 
vast change in the price of farm land. 

This may be illustrated as follows. Let us suppose that for a 
considerable area of the lands of the corn belt it costs, one year with 
another, fifty cents to grow a bushel of corn, figuring in every element 
of cost, including the farmer's wages of superintendence and interest 
on his equipment. If the price of corn, one year with another, is ex- 
actly fifty cents a bushel and is not expected to go any higher, corn land 
is worth exactly nothing. That is to say, the average corn farmer 



98 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

would be as well off if he worked for wages, let his capital for in- 
terest, and abandoned his land, as he would be if he kept his land and 
tried to grow corn. He would have no motive for holding on to his 
land and no one else would have a motive for buying his land. 

Suppose, however, that the price of corn should rise to sixty 
cents a bushel and it was expected that it would remain at this level, 
one year with another. There is now ten cents a bushel surplus. 
Obviously, no man would abandon his land under these conditions. 
He has a motive for keeping it; and there would be plenty who 
would be glad to buy it at some fair price. In other words, no man 
could make as much by abandoning his land and letting his capital 
at interest as he could by keeping his land and growing corn. 

How much advantage would his land be to him? Well, let us 
suppose that he can grow fifty bushels of corn to the acre on the aver- 
age and makes ten cents on each bushel. He then makes five dollars 
on each acre of land. Five dollars capitalized at the rate of five 
per cent would be one hundred dollars. One hundred dollars would 
be, therefore, the logical price for an acre of that land. Now a rise 
from fifty cents to sixty cents a bushel is not so very violent, but with 
the figures which I have assumed, it would make the difference be- 
tween no price and one hundred dollars an acre for farm land. 
Again, assume that there is another rise of ten cents a bushel in the 
price of corn, the expenses of growing the crop remaining the same. 
A change from sixty cents to seventy cents is not so very violent, but 
this would exactly double the logical price of farm land; for now, 
instead of making ten cents on each bushel, he makes twenty cents, 
clear, over and above the expenses of growing the crop. Translated 
into acres, he now makes ten dollars an acre instead of five dollars. 
Capitalizing this ten dollars at five per cent makes two hundred 
dollars, the logical price of an acre of land, instead of one hundred 
dollars. In short, an increase of one-sixth in the price of corn pro- 
duces logically a doubling of the price of farm land. A similar fall 
in the price of corn would produce a similarly violent fall in the 
price of farm land. 

To Buy on Credit a Hazardous LTndertaking 

In this country, where the tendency is for farmers to own their 
own land, they are very likely to measure their own prosperity in 
terms of the trend of land prices. It is inevitable that there should 
be very wide fluctuations in land prices. Of course, this is not likely 
to have a great deal of influence on the farmer who owns his land 



LARGER ASPECTS OF FARMING 99 

free from debt and is not thinking of selling; but it is also a fact 
that in this country more than in any other, land is a merchantable 
commodity, is frequently bought and sold, and when bought, is fre- 
quently bought on credit. To buy on credit an object which is sub- 
jected to such violent fluctuations in value is a rather hazardous 
undertaking. You may gain very largely, and then again you may 
lose very heavily. In other words, farm land is one of the most 
uncertain and hazardous of all investments. 

I mention this for the reason that it has been frequently stated 
in recent years that farm lands are the safest of all securities as a 
basis for credit. That is a proposition which may sound well on 
a political platform, but it is not true, in fact; and they who have 
taken it literally, especially in the recent land boom in the corn belt, 
have learned to their extreme sorrow that it is a dangerous fallacy. 

One of my colleagues, in a recent attempt to be facetious, has 
remarked that agricultural economics is a kind of mental agriculture. 
If so, that is not enough to condemn it. I believe that there are a 
good many farmers scattered through the corn belt today who would 
be materially better off at this moment if they had practised a little 
more of this kind of mental agriculture, — the kind that consists in 
analyzing the basis of the value of farm land. 

"A Good Living and Ten Per Cent" 

"A good living and ten per cent" has been adopted as a kind of 
slogan for an agricultural campaign. This does not sound unreason- 
able; that is to say, the conditions ought to be such as to make it 
possible for any first-rate farmer to realize that or more. I wish to 
contend, however, that for the inferior farmer, or the farmer who is 
materially below the average, this is a goal that is forever unattain- 
able, if the value of the land is considered a part of the investment 
on which he is to realize ten per cent. No matter how good a farmer 
he is, if he happens to be materially below the average of those who 
are competing with him for land, labor, and equipment, he never will 
be able to attain this goal while the world stands. As I suggested 
earlier in this paper, his more efficient competitors will bid so high 
for land as to make it impossible for this inferior farmer ever to 
realize ten per cent on that high price. 

There is, however, one very important use that can be made of 
this slogan, or one very similar to it. I will explain this use by first 
mentioning what happens to a business corporation that fails to pay 
all the expenses, including the salaries of its officers. In a case of this 



100 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

kind, everything is down in black and white; and the corporation 
owes its managers salaries just as definitely and has to pay these 
salaries just as certainly as it has to pay for its raw materials, its 
fuel, or its machinery. When it fails to pay all expenses, including 
the salaries of all its office force, it is a bankrupt corporation and 
must be liquidated. Too frequently the farmer does not hold his 
farm to the same strict accountability as the business corporation is 
held. The farm has to pay for its fertilizers and all its other ma- 
terials with deadly certainty, but, in present practise, it is not required 
to pay the farmer, the farm boy, or the farm wife definite salaries at 
all. Too many of them go on working without any salary, or with 
only half salary, and keep the farm going when it ought to be bank- 
rupt and its affairs wound up. If such a campaign of education 
could be carried through as would persuade every farmer to run his 
own farm so as to pay a fair salary for himself and for all his family 
who actually work, a good many of our less well managed farms 
would be bankrupt and liquidated already. This would be largely, 
of course, a matter of accounting. If the accounts were so kept as to 
show exactly how much the farmer was getting for his work and 
that of his family, and he were convinced that he could get more by 
working for somebody else than by working for himself, and if he 
were to wind up his business as promptly as the corporation managers 
close the corporation that fails to pay salaries along with other charges, 
it would be an excellent thing for the farming industry over the 
entire country. These farmers would make more if they would give 
up farming and work for wages; and the other farmers would be 
relieved of the competition of a good many farms that are not now 
paying operative costs. I suggest, therefore, as a goal to be striven 
for, "Fair wages for every farm worker plus five per cent on the 
investment." That is a goal that is attainable, and when it is attained 
it will mark a very definite improvement in the economic conditions 
of the farming population. 




THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FARM 

David Kinley, President of the University of Illinois 

O ONE can turn his attention to the subject of agriculture 
in the United States without thinking at once of its condi- 
tion at the present time. Therefore, when a conference 
on agriculture is called it is inevitable that people should 
expect a discussion of the present agricultural depression. 
This, however, was not the purpose of the conference called 
at the University. The purpose was rather to consider the direction 
or trend of the development of agriculture in Illinois in the next de- 
cade or two, with special consideration of the part that the University 
College of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Station can 
or may play in that development. In any conference on the general 
subject of agriculture today, three problems present themselves : the 
problem of the present depression ; that of the improvement of exist- 
ing agricultural practises, technically and economically ; and the prob- 
lem of the future agricultural methods. As indicated above, a fourth 
point in the present conference is the relation of the University to 
that progress. 

Altho this conference was not called for the purpose of discussing 
the present depression, I may be pardoned if I turn aside a moment to 
mention it. We have had all sorts of explanations given and all sorts 
of remedies proposed. Most of the explanations and remedies have 
no relation to the subject. Most of the explanations do not explain, 
and most of the proposed remedies would make the situation worse. 
In fact, no one can give an adequate explanation of the situation or an 
adequate remedy for its improvement. It is curious that in an age 
when the medical profession is relying less and less on drugs for the 
cure of disease and more and more upon the healthy, slow processes 
of nature, the social doctors are facing the other way and relying more 
and more on quack remedies through legislation than on the operation 
of natural economic and social forces. 

We all agree, of course, that the present situation is the result 
of the war, whatever the words may mean. It can be established, I 
think, that not only did the processes of the war take out of cultiva- 
tion vast areas of land formerly used to produce food, but it also 
reduced the consuming power, that is, the purchasing ability, of the 
world. Even this statement needs explanation, but this is not the 
place for it. Moreover, the demands of war gave a direction to ag- 
ricultural production, in this country at any rate, which distorted 

101 



102 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

somewhat seriously the course of normal agricultural production. In 
addition, there are the influences due to the disturbed state of the cur- 
rencies of the world ; the political unrest, which is both a cause and an 
effect ; and the economic disturbances in other than agricultural lines. 
So far as the farmers of Illinois and the United States are concerned, 
they were led to produce abnormally in some directions, relying on the 
high prices of the war, artificially stimulated and held up by govern- 
ment action. They were called on, for example, to supply wheat, and 
they furnished it from areas which were naturally better suited to 
corn ; for of course the dominating factor in the choice of a crop was 
the price. I think there cannot be found in history a more illuminat- 
ing illustration of the evil consequences of government interference in 
economic life than has been furnished by the government activity in 
industry and agriculture during the recent war. The foolish cur- 
rency and credit policies of all the important governments during the 
war, and the ultra-foolish policies of some of them since the war in 
the great inflation of currency, have made the situation worse. 
Thousands of people are starving in some parts of the world which are 
accessible by ordinary means of transportation, because the currency 
and credit conditions are such that they cannot buy the things needed 
to keep them alive. 

Looking at the situation in a large way, the first thing necessary 
to the restoration of normal conditions in agriculture and industry is 
the cessation of currency and credit inflation by Germany and other 
countries, the restoration of decent conditions in Russia, and the con- 
sequent reestablishment of international trade. The debts of foreign 
countries to this government should be funded at a reasonable rate of 
interest for a long-time period to assist in the restoration of normal 
rates of exchange. A good many other things are necessary, but 
these measures would go a long way toward restoring confidence and 
setting the world to work. 

Some Outstanding Facts Determining Future 
Agricultural Development 

With reference to agriculture in Illinois and its future develop- 
ment, there are some apparently outstanding facts that we must con- 
sider in trying to determine where we are going. 

While it is true that, taking the country as a whole, a dozen 
years ago less than half of our total land area was in farms, yet less 
than a fourth was improved and less than a sixth was tilled. Never- 
theless, the available tillable land of the country is pretty well taken 
up, and further great expansion in agriculture must come from some 



THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FARM 103 

other method than by simply taking up more land. The area of im- 
proved land has, of course, increased pretty rapidly in the past de- 
cade or two, but it has not increased as fast as our population. To be 
sure, improved methods of agriculture might render an equal rate of 
increase unnecessary. Still there must be some relation between the 
rate of increase of population and that of the increase of improved 
farm land in a country where land is still open to occupation. When 
the land has all been occupied, then the relation must be different and 
a larger number of people must be fed from each acre. Speaking gen- 
erally, we have reached that condition in the United States and in 
Illinois. In other words, we have reached the point of what is called 
decreasing returns under given conditions of agricultural practise. In 
Illinois in 1920, the improved land in farms was approximately three- 
fourths of a million acres less than it was ten years before. In the 
meantime, the estimated value of all farm property had risen from 
3.9 billion to 6.7 billion, two billions of this increase being in land, 
three hundred millions in buildings, and one hundred and forty 
millions in implements and machinery. In other words, the value of 
the land increased in the decade 70 per cent, that of the buildings 73 
per cent, and that of implements and machinery 202 per cent. These 
facts also, due regard being had to other conditions, may fairly be 
interpreted as evidence that we have reached the point of decreasing 
returns under given conditions of agricultural practise. 

Again, the average value per farm has increased nearly five times 
in the past thirty years, practically all of the increase being in land 
and buildings, and the main part of it in land. 

Another significant fact for Illinois is that, generally speaking, 
the number of farms of every size has decreased excepting those be- 
tween one hundred and five hundred acres. The tendency seems to 
be that the usual farm shall be between those limits. Another fact of 
some importance, altho I cannot help thinking that it is a temporary 
phenomenon, is the change in the character of the cereal crops in the 
decade just closed. In the ten years closing in 1919, there was a de- 
crease of 21 per cent in the acreage of corn harvested and an increase 
of nearly 88 per cent in the acreage of wheat harvested. This change 
was probably due to the demand of the war, exerting itself through 
the higher prices offered by governments for wheat. The result, of 
course, was the devotion of land, better suited to corn, to the produc- 
tion of wheat. In other words, the land was not being put to its most 
socially productive use, using the term "productive" with reference to 
total actual production. 



104 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Again, the character of the animal industry of Illinois has 
changed in considerable degree in the past twenty or thirty years, 
altho it is true that there were more cattle reported in the 1920 census 
for Illinois than in the 1910 census. 

Again, notwithstanding a large increase in population, largely in 
the cities, there has been, according to the best Census estimate, a re- 
duction in the amount of milk produced in the state and in the amount 
of butter made, altho the value of the milk, cream, and butterfat sold, 
and of the butter and cheese made, is estimated by the census to have 
increased 128 per cent. 

On the social side, the Census shows a decrease in the number of 
farms operated by tenants; but the decrease is evidently all in the 
class of cash tenants, or the most independent class of tenants. 

Summing these facts up, they seem to me to point in a general 
way to certain conclusions. First, as already suggested, they indicate 
that in Illinois, as elsewhere, we have reached the point where in our 
agriculture we must expect to raise larger crops per unit, or to get more 
products per unit, at increasing cost. If, in our attempt to raise our 
crops on high-priced soil at increasing costs, we find ourselves unable 
to compete with people raising similar crops on cheaper land in other 
parts of the world, we shall be obliged either to resort to a sj'stem of 
protection for agriculture, or we shall have to let part of our land go 
out of use, as did Old England and later. New England. We shall 
have on our hands the problem of abandoned farms. The obvious 
conclusion is that we must seek that kind of agricultural activity in 
which we are most efficient under our Illinois conditions. We must 
make the most economical use possible of our land and machinery. 

We must also take notice of the fact that the industrial growth 
of Illinois is likely to be rapid in the next twenty-five or thirty years. 
Manufactories will be more numerous. That growth will bring to 
our doors a larger home market. Our agriculture may perhaps direct 
itself to supplying products peculiarly demanded by such a market. 
Still, again, since the value per acre and per farm has increased and 
will increase more, we must get a larger output per farm or per acre 
in order to make our investment pay. 

Generally speaking, our policy in the past has been of necessity 
large farms with crops of a single character or cereal crops of two 
kinds. With the growth of a home market of industrial centers, 
there will have to be more small farms producing the things demanded 
for consumption in such centers. In other words, as population be- 
comes denser, the most profitable farm may perhaps have to become 



THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FARM 105 

smaller, its products more diverse, its cultivation more intense, its 
value per unit higher, and the products selected for growing those 
which are in greatest demand, and in the market where the net profit 
is highest. 

Agricultural Policy of the Immediate Future 

In the light of these facts, there seem to be certain conditions 
which will modify our agriculural policy for the immediate future. 

In the first place, we are bound to conserve and, if possible, to 
increase the fertility of our land. We must not allow it to run down 
further ; rather we must restore those parts of it that have run down. 
How to do this is a problem for the solution of which the farmers of 
the state are entitled to look to the University Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station for help. Much has been done in the study of the ap- 
plication of chemistry to agriculture. Little has been done in the 
study of the improvement of plant life, and in the study of plant dis- 
ease and the remedies therefor, in order to give us a larger and more 
healthy product and to eliminate the waste of diseased products. This 
field is a proper subject for study at the University. 

In the second place, it is clear that our cultivation must become 
more intensive. It is easy to say that we can raise seventy-five or one 
hundred bushels per acre in Illinois of this crop or that crop, instead 
of the forty or fifty that we have been raising. In the past a great 
deal of foolish talk of this kind has been indulged in. There has 
never been any doubt in the mind of anyone who is conversant with 
the facts that we could increase the output per acre of any of our crops, 
but at a cost. The farmer's problem, so far as he can control the 
amount of his production, is to get a product which, at the prices that 
can be secured for it when put upon the market, will yield him a net 
profit. Society's problem is to find a system of agriculture which will 
produce enough to meet the demands of men and women for living, 
at prices which they can reasonably pay, while at the same time letting 
the farmer have the profit necessary to induce him to continue his 
business and to prosper like the rest of the community. It is non- 
sense, therefore, to tell the farmer that he should increase his output 
per acre without showing him that the increasing cost of every ad- 
ditional bushel will be met by a larger market and an increased price 
per bushel. While, therefore, in the next twenty-five years Illinois 
agriculture is bound to be more and more intensive, one of the ways 
in which it may become so is by the discovery of methods of cultivation 
which will reduce costs of production. This, again, is a field for 



106 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

study and investigation by the University. These remarks apply to 
improvements not only in the technical processes of agriculture but in 
the economic processes involved in farming. We must find improved 
business methods for farming. The business side of farming, as has 
been said here repeatedly, is capable of great improvement. This is true 
not only of methods of marketing, w^hich is a very popular subject of 
discussion today, altho it is not the cure-all for agricultural ills that 
many seem to think ; but it is also true of other phases of the business. 

In the third place, as I have already intimated, we may find it 
profitable to diversify our agriculture still more in the way of in- 
creasing those products which are in immediate demand for family 
consumption in cities and industrial centers, which are bound to be- 
come more numerous all over the state. It may be that in doing this 
the average farm will have to become smaller and the owner will have 
to devote himself to more lines of farming than many of our farmers 
are accustomed to now. I have no doubt that in time the farms of 
some of the states to the east of us, and perhaps in Illinois itself, will 
become more nearly like those of certain parts of the Old World and 
of the East, where population is dense, in the sense that each farm, so to 
speak, a complex of a large group of agricultural operations. The 
farmer raises a few cattle and hogs, various kinds of vegetables or 
garden truck, fruits, a certain amount of milk and butter, and perhaps 
a considerable amount of one or two of the grains. Under the con- 
ditions in which he lives, and his closeness to a large population, he has 
a surplus in each one of his products that he can sell at a profit. 

In the next place, we must learn to make a better use of our un- 
tilled land. We shall undoubtedly find it profitable, if -not necessary, 
very soon to increase the number of our trees. The best way to do 
this is for each farm to have its woodlands. Other land not under 
cultivation and not lying fallow will undoubtedly be more largely 
used for grazing purposes, even tho the use be temporary for particular 
farmers. 

We must look forward, too, it seems to me, to an increase in our 
horticultural agriculture. There is no good reason, so far as I can 
see, why there should not be a great many small orchards as part of 
the farms throughout the State, as well as a few large orchards. It 
seems probable that such orchards can be made profitable to the farmer. 

Other auxiliary agricultural enterprises, such as bee culture and 
poultry raising, will have to be more commonly engaged in. 

Still again, the dairy industry of the state needs development and 
better organization. The demand for dairy products will grow as 



THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FARM 107 

the population grows, especially in the neighborhood of cities and in- 
dustrial centers. The dairy industry should become larger in the next 
decade or two, both as an independent industry and as a part of ordi- 
nary farming. In this line, as in others, the University's duty as it 
is supplied with means for the purpose is to cooperate with the prac- 
tical farmer by studying conditions and trying to devise methods of 
expansion and improvement and to make scientific discoveries that 
will promote the progress of the industry. 

Economic, Social^ and Business Improvement 

In addition to the group of activities and improvements thus far 
mentioned, there is also the very large field of economic, social, and 
business improvement in farming. Farming as a business has been 
sadly neglected. There is a good deal of popular enthusiasm at pres- 
ent about one aspect of the economics of farming; namely, that of 
marketing, and some on the general subject of farm organization and 
management. Farm organization may be regarded from the point of 
view of technical agriculture or from that of economics. From the 
former point of view, the farm should be so organized as to make 
possible the utilization of the best technical methods of production. 
From the latter point of view, the farm should be organized, — that is 
to say, the capital invested in the farm should be so apportioned be- 
tween different farm operations, — as to yield the largest net profits 
from the processes to which it is assigned. We need a study of the 
apportionment of capital to diverse farming operations on farms of 
standard sizes. This would be a study of agricultural investment. 
To this the University should give its attention as soon as it can find 
means. We need, in addition, a study of the economics of farm dis- 
tribution, involving marketing; warehousing (cooperative and other) ; 
transportation, whether by highway or by rail ; markets considered 
with reference to their geographical distribution and their economic 
character; and a number of similar subjects. These are all proper 
subjects for study at the University, and it should be a part of the 
future policy of the state to provide means for the encouragement of 
these studies. 

Again, we shall need in our Illinois farming better and more fre- 
quent statistical reports showing the actual conditions in the various 
agricultural activities of interest to our people, so that our farmers will 
be able more intelligently to determine what products to raise in each 
season and how most advantageously to sell them. 



108 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

We need to make a more profitable use of what are at present 
waste products on the farm. On this subject, as on that of raising 
larger crops per acre, there has been much nonsense talked and written. 
Speaking economically, an article which has in it the possibility of use- 
fulness is not wasted when it is not used, if the cost of using it would 
be greater than the value obtained from it. From the farmer's point 
of view it is not waste to use corn, or even wheat, for fuel if he can 
get his heat per unit at less cost in this way than by buying coal and 
there is at the time no more profitable use open to him. It is not 
waste from the producer's point of view to let the apples rot on the 
trees or the oats remain uncut, if it would cost more to put them on the 
market than the value that would be received from them. There are 
technical and economic problems in this question of waste that are 
waiting for solution. We are not yet making profitable use of our 
cornstalks or probably of some other products that are commonly 
thought of as waste. 

Agriculture in Ilh'nois in the next twenty-five years needs, as in- 
deed all other businesses and industries do, an improved system of 
taxation. There is a great lack of knowledge of the real incidents of 
our taxes as they are at present, and there is undoubtedly a good deal 
of inequity in our present system of taxation. It is due in large 
measure to the retention of the old general property tax under which 
it is possible, and indeed necessary, to place the heaviest burden on 
property that can be seen and therefore found. 

Our next quarter-century of agricultural progress calls also for 
a simpler and less expensive system of land transfer. As some one has 
remarked, "I can buy a bond or a thousand bushels of wheat in ten 
seconds by the clock ; but to buy a small tract of land involves an un- 
reasonable amount of time, expense, uncertainty, risk, and vexation." 

Still again, on the economic side there is doubtless some room 
for improvement in the banking and credit facilities open to the 
farmer. As everybody knows, the farmer requires both short-time' 
credit and long-time credit. His short-time credit is in general char- 
acter similar to that called for by the manufacturer. It depends on his 
personal reputation, his evident ability as a business man, and the prob- 
able value of his season's output. When a man borrows on the basis 
of security of this character, he must expect to be able to borrow only 
a part of the total valuation of that security in the mind of the banker. 
Yet I cannot help thinking that the part which the farmer is able to 
borrow is ordinarily less than the proportion which the business man 
in town is able to get. A somewhat parallel criticism could be made 
of credit facilities open to the farmer for long-time loans. 



THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FARM 109 

On the social side, life in the country, must be made more livable. 
I do not sympathize with those who think that the farmer's boy and 
girl are more susceptible to the lure of the great white ways of the 
cities than are other boys and girls. I do not believe that the attrac- 
tions of the city are in so large a degree as is commonly thought the 
cause of the exodus from country to city. Nevertheless, it is true 
that means of recreation and pleasure are less abundant and, on the 
whole, less refined in the country districts than they should be. This 
is a field for educational activity. It should begin with the local ed- 
ucational units, particularly the high school, each local community 
utilizing its resources to furnish proper entertainment for the young. 
It is a mistake for every community to look to the University as in 
some states is the practise, for its entertainments, lectures, and study 
classes. The local teaching staff should first be used and the Univer- 
sity looked to for help only in those lines and subject with which it 
properly has to do. 

It has been my purpose in these somewhat desultory remarks to 
state what seemed to me to be the conditions and the problems rather 
than to offer solutions of them. It is peculiarly rash for the layman 
to try to give a description of activities with which he is not familiar 
through being a participant. Yet the onlooker, who has a general 
understanding of the character and direction of activities of a par- 
ticular economic character, may sometimes see their general drift more 
clearly than if he were immediately engaged in them. It is for that 
reason and with that feeling that I have ventured on this unfamiliar 
ground. A man would be a fool who would attempt to prophesy 
for the next twenty or thirty years in Illinois agriculture. Yet I 
venture to run the risk of being called foolish by pointing out that 
in a general way we are headed towards a more intensive agriculture, 
towards a standard or model farm having one leading agricultural ac- 
tivity and numerous auxiliary agricultural processes, each of them 
yielding its own profit and all together yielding a larger joint profit 
than would be obtained from the pursuit of a single agricultural ac- 
tivity on that particular farm. We shall have larger crops per acre 
and, in time, either higher prices for them or reduced costs of pro- 
ducing them. We shall put our dairying, as a separate industry, on a 
firmer basis, and we shall make it a part of the work of every farm. 
We shall reclaim our waste lands and use them for forests and graz- 
ing. We shall restore our cattle industry by finding some method 
of low cost feeding, and we shall improve our economic organization 
and make social conditions more attractive. 



110 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

In all these things there is an opportunity and duty for the Uni- 
versity to assist by its studies and discoveries. The time has gone by 
when the farmer looks with contempt upon the Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. The Agricultural Experiment Station will have to 
widen its activities to include some economic and social aspects, and 
it will probably find it advantageous to change the direction of its 
studies in connection with fertility so as to add to them investigations 
in plant life that will enable us to get more healthy plant products 
and more of them at the same cost. 




THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW CROPS 

Charles L. Meharry, Attica, Indiana 

HE story is told of two lumber jacks engaged in the perilous 
job of rafting logs down a swollen and turbulent northern 
stream. The current and rocks were too much for the 
raft, and it broke up. Jim was plunged into the torrent. 
After a mighty struggle he managed to reach the surface 
with belly and lungs well nigh filled with ice-cold muddy 
water. His voice registered excitement and despair: "Bill, hurry 
quick or I'm a goner!" Jim grasped a stray log as it floated past, 
but the strong swift current carried his legs and body beneath the 
log and toward the surface of the water. Moreover, the log began 
to roll. At great risk to his own life, Bill reached Jim's log and 
was reaching for his collar when Jim caught sight of his own feet on 
the other side of the log, where they had been driven up to the sur- 
face by the sheer force of the current. Again Jim spoke, but this 
time his voice indicated more self-control, and into his eye had come 
a gleam of courage and self sacrifice. "Look there, Bill ! I think I 
can hold on a bit longer. Try and save the poor hick on the other 
side of the log. He's in head first!" 

Should we farmers not try to visualize the entire world in its 
plight? May we not summon all our nerve and courage, and if 
necessary a certain spirit of sacrifice; for is not human civilization 
head first in the same muddy torrent of economic maladjustment 
through which we are struggling; and if she perish what is the use 
of living? 

"Let us then be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 

There is much talk of late about overproduction of our im- 
portant cereals and agitation for the introduction of something new 
to take their place. But the introduction of new crops needs more 
justification than that usually advanced ; namely, that oats and corn 
are no longer profitable. It may be proved that overproduction is 
not troubling us so much as underconsumption, and he who heed- 
lessly curtails his production may awake some day to find that our 
statesmen and economists have succeeded in restoring the international 
political and economic balance, and that a hungry world is again 

111 



112 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

ready for our bread. Such a man may find cause for meditation. 
Dean Davenport said recently that "Agriculture has national and 
international relationships, but they must be handled in the interests 
of public welfare, and not of selfish class interest." That is sound 
and fundamental logic. When we reflect that a large part of the 
world is starving and freezing, the talk of limiting production sounds 
like false economy. 

Likewise, the new crop which does not find justification in one 
or more of about three words is not likely to prove profitable to its 
grower. Those three words are : Economy , Feed, Fertility. 

If by introducing a new crop we may effect a saving, directly or 
indirectly, of cash outlay or labor, providing there is need for the 
product, there is justification. If in addition to economy the new 
crop furnishes not less but more food and raiment to society, at less 
cost, and at the same time increases the fertility and productivity of 
our soils, so that future generations may be fed and clothed, — then 
indeed there is justification. We need look in but one group of plants 
for such crops — the legumes. 

New Crops Among the Legumes 

Among legumes we find three; a perennial, a biennial, and an 
annual, all of which are yet new to most Illinois farmers. The first 
is alfalfa, a great hay crop, which, however, lends itself but poorly 
to most rotation schemes and which, because of its conflicting harvest 
season and heavy yields, does not lend itself well in large acreages 
to the economical distribution of labor in the corn belt. In spite 
of these drawbacks and the plant's exacting requirements, alfalfa is 
too good and beautiful a thing to be ignored. Most of us could grow 
it in many of the irregular small lots and patches about the premises, 
which are too often waste places and eyesores. Many can use much 
more, but let us all use at least this much. 

The second plant is the biennial sweet clover, a wonderful pas- 
ture plant and soil enricher. Not quite so exacting as alfalfa, it 
works better into rotations. Its carrying capacity is so great that 
truly it may be said that two animals may graze where but one ate 
before. The seed is cheap, and there is but one exacting require- 
ment — limestone. Whether pastured by live stock or fed to the 
succeeding cereal crop, this plant is sure to enrich the soil, society, 
and the farmer. 

The third plant, the annual soybean, is destined to become a 
great grain crop as well as a wonderful forage plant. Just at present 



NEW CROPS 113 

it is as a forage plant that it finds greatest usefulness in Illinois. 
Practically every Illinois farmer should raise at least a few soyBeans, 
for all they ask is a good seed bed and inoculation. Nearly every- 
body can find some space for a plant which will make a hay equal 
to alfalfa, or a grain as good or better than cotton-seed or oil meal ; 
which will considerably increase the amount of silage he can grow 
per acre, or make a wonderful combination with corn to pasture ofiE 
with live stock; which will tremendously reinforce his cornstalk 
pasture ; or which, grown alone and plowed under, will add as much 
nitrogen to the soil as will clover. Finally, when a commercial de- 
mand becomes established for the seed, on account of its exceptionally 
high oil content, there will come to be a regularly established market 
for seed. 

We need much new information ; and we need to have it, as well 
as what we already know, much more widely disseminated before these 
three little-used legumes will really find their places in our agri- 
culture. It has been but a few years since no less valued and influ- 
ential a friend and adviser than Mr. Frank Mann, when asked to 
criticize our Champaign county farm and our practises said among 
other things that he believed we had too large a proportion of our 
land in legumes to be practical and economical. He said that that was 
a criticism he hesitated to make, but that it was his honest conviction. 
The criticism had our earnest consideration, but we have never 
obtained the consent of our minds to change our rotation, and we still 
doubt if it would be profitable to do so. Our rotation being corn, 
soybeans, wheat, and clovers, half the cultivated area is given over to 
the exclusive occupancy of legumes each year, and even wheat and 
corn have to share their homes with clovers and soybeans. Alfalfa 
we use, too, but not in the rotation. 

The Place of Alfalfa 

Alfalfa being a perennial, we have found needs more than two 
seasons to attain perfection. This fact, together with the exacting 
requirements of the plant, and the further fact that the average sized 
corn-belt field in alfalfa would be like the tail that once wagged a 
dog, has given us pause whenever we have considered putting alfalfa 
into our rotation. The fact, too, that its harvest season conflicts with 
cultivation of the corn crop and sometimes with wheat harvest, makes 
it difficult to distribute labor economically, when too much of it is 
undertaken. But alfalfa is much too useful and beautiful a crop to 
be ignored. 



114 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

On nearly every farm there are a few small lots near the barn 
which seem essential but which for the greater part of the time are 
not in use. Because of their small size and often their odd shape these 
small areas are difficult and expensive to till. Now, w^e find that 
alfalfa fits into these odd areas splendidly. The overhead of seed-bed 
preparation is distributed over several years; we have our hay close 
to its storage places; we cannot easily overlook either the needs of 
the crop or its beauty. Nothing can be placed between the farm 
yard and the public highway that will more enhance the view, both 
from within and from without. Incidentally, no inexpensive change 
will so quickly raise the selling value of a farm as to frame the 
dwelling in alfalfa. I do not mean the yard, of course, but the area 
surrounding the yard. 

Many of the important problems of alfalfa culture are farm 
management problems. We believe that alfalfa is primarily a hay 
crop. It is too difficult and expensive to establish to use for pas- 
turing to any great extent, though for some forms of live stock it 
does make excellent pasture. But for hay it would be par excellence, 
the best crop, were it not for the fact that its season conflicts with 
certain other peak labor loads. How to avoid or overcome these 
conflicts is, we believe, the most needed detail yet to be worked out. 
It may be that, as Mr. J. W. Morgan intimated this week, the solu- 
tion of the difficulty may be found by working with the corn crop 
as well as with the alfalfa. It may be that we are spending an 
unnecessary amount of time in the cultivation of corn. Have we 
been too inclined in most investigational work to see only the imme- 
diate crop, animal, or enterprise concerned, without enough con- 
sideration being given to the thing's relationship to the entire collective 
business of agriculture? If so, it would seem that cordial cooperation 
of those who concern themselves largely with the new study of farm 
management is greatly to be desired. Indeed, it is only when there 
is the most cordial, interested cooperation of all the various depart- 
ments of our College and Experiment Station that they really func- 
tion normally and do the greatest good. Not only this, but coopera- 
tion and a spirit of helpfulness between the colleges and stations of 
our various corn-belt states, and between the experimentalist and the 
farmer himself, are also essential for the most rapid progress. 

Sweet Clover for Pasture and Fertility 

The biennial sweet clover lends itself better to the rotation and 
makes a more satisfactory pasture plant. Indeed, it is as a pasture 
plant and soil enricher that sweet clover is most useful. It makes 



NEW CROPS 115 

good hay, altho alfalfa and soybeans are both better for that pur- 
pose. I was exceedingly glad to see the Agronomy and Animal Hus- 
bandry Departments cooperating on the South Fai'm last fall in the 
investigation of this pasture plant. Many of us are convinced of the 
great value of this crop, while many others still dispute it or are 
frankly skeptical. Much more exact experimental evidence is needed 
before sweet clover may occupy its rightful heritage. 

Need for Investigation of Clover Problems 

We need to know a great deal more about the factors governing 
the inoculation of all our legumes, particularly sweet clover and soy- 
beans. Do such things as the calcium and phosphorus requirements 
of these plants affect the multiplication and activity of nitrogen- 
gathering bacteria ; and does deficiency or abundance of rainfall do 
the same ? Then how, why, and to what extent, as measured by the 
productivity of the land? Do these same factors affect the physio- 
logical functions of the plants and their composition? If they do, 
how do these differences affect the functions and growth of young 
animals that feed upon them? 

We need to know whether very early pasturing of sweet clover 
is beneficial or detrimental to the plant. Is it wise to pasture it 
closely? If not, is it beneficial to clip it when it reaches a certain 
stage? If so, what is the best stage, and how many clippings are bene- 
ficial and economical? Does clipping improve palatability? Does it 
increase carrying capacity? 

Shall we try to grow a clear stand of sweet clover, or mix other 
clovers or grasses with it; and why? What effect do the different 
plants in a pasture mixture have upon soil fertility? Is the amount 
of forage increased and its efficiency in meat making improved by mix- 
ing pasture clovers and grasses? If so, to what extent? And why, 
and how? 

To what extent will the answers to all such questions affect our 
farm practises ? We shall need the help of the economist to reach our 
decision. 

Soybeans, reaching maturity in a single season, are much more 
adaptable than a perennial or biennial. Moreover the requirements 
for this crop are not nearly so exacting as those for sweet clover and 
alfalfa. The crop is more tolerant of an acid soil, for one thing. 
But just what effect will liberal applications of limestone, so benefi- 



116 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

cial and essential to sweet clover, have upon the growth, inoculation, 
and composition of soybeans? If it affects their composition, does it 
make them a better feed or poorer? Does it affect the oil content? 
The same questions might be asked concerning phosphorus. 

The Increasing Interest in Soybeans 

Soybeans, being planted in the late spring, have neither the 
vicissitudes of winter nor the competition of another crop to contend 
with. Interest in this crop has developed marvelously in the past few 
years, and the use of it has grown by leaps and bounds. This has 
been but natural, as seed prices have made soy culture very remunera- 
tive. The cost of production has been about the same as for corn 
on our farms (in many instances less), and the gross returns generally 
greater. In the corn belt there has never been a commercial market 
for soybean grain other than for seed purposes. The grower has had 
to find his own market, and grade, sack, and ship the crop in small par- 
cels, often to the corners of the land ! This is a problem most 
farmers do not care to solve, tho we have not found it arduous, 
considering the compensation. However, several corporations are now 
promising an outlet for next year's crop, for oil and feed manufacture ; 
and unless production should overtake this still rather modest source 
of consumption, soybean growing should prove quite remunerative, 
altho promising no such returns as we have been in the habit of ex- 
pecting. Ultimately, I confidently expect soybeans to displace oats in 
our Illinois rotations to a great extent ; but it would be a tremendous 
mistake to try to accomplish this in a single season, or even in three 
or four. A campaign of education is needed to exploit the uses of soy- 
bean oil and cake so that the industries and the feeder may appreciate 
their value and gradually increase the use of them. Our Household 
Science Department might do both the producer and consumer a great 
service by teaching the people the great nutritive and dietary value of 
soybeans as human food. Unless such educational work is pushed, the 
time may not be far distant when the sale of soybean seed will not 
be profitable on account of overproduction. 

Should this occur, however, it should not deter any farmer from 
growing what soys he can consume on his own farm; and, by the 
way, practically every farmer ought to start with soybeans on that 
basis. We believe the College and Station should for the immediate 
present lay most stress upon the use of soybeans as a forage, while at 
the same time investigating the uses to which oil and cake may be put. 



NEW CROPS 117 

Some Things We Need to Know About Soybeans 

It seems to us that from now on less attention should be paid to 
variety tests, and more to standardization, nomenclature, selection, 
and certification. Both producer and manufacturer need to know 
how oil content varies with variety, and whether some varieties give 
up their oil more easily than others. They wish to know what 
correlation there may be between color of seed coat and the quantity 
and quality of oil, and the relative value of cake or meal from different 
colored seeds. Is there a difference in quality of cake produced by 
the different methods of oil extraction? We should know to what 
extent and in what manner, climatic and soil conditions influence the 
composition of the plant, especially the seed. 

This Station has shown that soybeans planted with corn ?nay 
reduce the corn yield. We should like to know how varying rates 
of planting affect the corn yield. Is there any symbiotic relationship 
between corn and soys in the same hill ? Certain other stations have 
shown that the two plants growing together may produce a greater 
weight of silage than either separately. What is the increase worth ? 
If we do not gain as many pounds of soybeans in corn as we lose in 
corn, are the soybeans which are produced worth more, as a supple- 
ment to the remaining corn, than the lost corn would have been ? Is 
a field of corn and soys which is harvested by being pastured with 
live stock worth more than corn grown alone on the same field and 
harvested by man? We should have this data for all the meat ani- 
mals. What will be the cumulative effect on soil productiveness of 
long continued practise of pasturing off crops? May we not have 
cordial cooperation between the Agronomy and Animal Husbandry 
Departments in solving such problems as these? 

Considerable importance may be attached to certain laboratory 
studies by Dr. Hottes, of the germination of soybean seed, and a 
continuation of these studies is greatly to be desired, as they may 
reveal why some varieties have given uniformly better stands than 
others. They may settle, too, the much discussed question of what 
effect color of seed has on germination and longevity of seed. They 
may teach us the best methods of seed storage and care. We hope 
the pathologists will undertake to solve the cause and prevention of 
the bacterial blight of soys that we have observed during the past few 
years, and tell us why some of our best varieties have been the most 
affected. 

We believe that experiments on the rate and manner of seeding 
should be continued and developed. We feel that managerial economy 



118 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

points strongly toward close seeding on well-prepared land, to be 
followed by rapid over-cultivation without too much regard for the 
individual plant. We feel that higher hay yields are to be expected, 
and more nitrogen fixed, where the land is most fully occupied. 

Harvesting questions should also receive attention. Economy of 
material must go hand in hand with economy of labor. The latter 
becomes relatively more important as the price of seed comes down 
without a corresponding decrease in the cost of labor. We should 
know whether more than one soy hay crop may be grown on the same 
land in a single season. Some evidence points to that possibility. 
May soys be cut before blooming and survive the cutting? What 
yields of hay would they make at that stage? If they will not sur- 
vive, may a second seeding be made which will yield a hay crop 
before frost? 

What yield of ensilage might we get from a mixed solid seeding 
of sweet corn or pop corn with an early variety of soys? It might 
bring silo filling at a more convenient time on farms where soybean 
harvest and wheat seeding sometimes interfere with silo filling. What 
quality of ensilage would such a combination in varying proportions 
make? 

How is the composition, palatability, digestibility, and yield of 
soy hay in tons and in pounds of meat per acre affected by the stage 
of maturity at cutting? What is the relative value of soybean straw 
or hullings compared to oat straw ? Does it pay to hull soybeans and 
feed grain and straw separately, or will the hull tend to overcome 
the ill effects sometimes observed when feeding hulled beans? Will 
extraction of the oil overcome these ill effects? May they be over- 
come by any kind of supplemental feeds? Colorado lamb feeders 
find it practicable to harvest field peas directly from the field with 
lambs. Can we do it with soys? 

Fertility and Soil Physics Problems as Related 
TO THE Legumes 

Fertility and soil physics problems related to all these legumes 
need further study. The root systems of perennial and biennial 
plants, and the functions they perform, differ so much from that of 
the annual soybean that comparison is difficult. We should know the 
comparative manurial value, in whole or in part, or indirectly, after 
being pastured or fed to live stock. We believe the possibilities of 
both sweet clover and soys surpass red clover in some respects. Purdue 
records show that soys seeded after a wheat crop was taken off, grew 



NEW CROPS 119 

over 13,000 pounds of material (including roots) containing 92.7 
pounds of nitrogen. At the same station wheat after soys has yielded 
5.5 bushels more per acre than wheat after corn. Should we not 
know what the cumulative effects of these legumes is to be on 
fertility? 

Until we have answers to such questions as we have asked and 
many others equally important, Illinois agriculture will probably 
proceed rather cautiously in introducing alfalfa, sweet clover, and 
soybeans into its scheme of management, and justly so. Yet how 
badly we need legumes and how much economy to agriculture and 
to the nation might result from their introduction ! 

The Solution of These Problems by the Experiment 

Station 

In the introduction of these new crops into Illinois agriculture, 
our Experiment Station must be largely influential. Individually, the 
farmer cannot afford to do much experimenting, particularly at the 
present time. But a great deal may be done collectivclyj and there 
has hardly been a time when we needed to have so much experimenting 
done for us. In so far as our inquiries are in the interest of public 
welfare we have a right to ask the consuming public to help us solve 
our problems by helping to support our College and Experiment Sta- 
tion. It is the duty of the public to help to provide research workers 
who may in any way help to reduce the cost of living. This the 
Experiment Station may do by investigating problems relating to the 
growing and the use of such new crops as we have mentioned. It is 
only after disinterested scientific investigation by trained workers that 
the farmer can afford to venture far into untried enterprises. 

Let us all then, whether we be producers, consumers, experi- 
mentalists, or economists, interest and concern ourselves that such 
new or little used crops as alfalfa, sweet clover, and soybeans be 
thoroly investigated, and see to it that the knowledge gained 
be disseminated to farmers; to the end that farm production be 
economically increased, thereby adding to the farmer's profit and at 
the same time lightening the consumer's burden of cost. Let us 
not forget, in contemplating the benefit to us individually, the thou- 
sands of hungry mouths and cold bodies in foreign fields. Above all, 
let us remember the succeeding generations of Americans and our 
responsibility for their welfare. Consideration for our children and 
their children's children should scarcely be second to the instinct for 
self preservation. 




FARM FORESTRY IN ILLINOIS 

A. N. Abbott, Morrison 

{Lantern slides ivere used during the address, shoiving sandy and eroded 
lands, the effects of tree planting on sandy land, and ivoods where forest con- 
ditions ivere maintained.) 

T IS estimated that timber in the United States is being con- 
sumed four times as fast as it is being produced. The 
rapidly increasing prices of lumber products during the 
last two decades foretell the great timber scarcity which is 
now upon us. Our great white pine forests were exploited 
with the abandon of a drunken sailor. A heritage which 
properly managed would have contributed to the use of the people 
forever was destroyed in twenty years. 

It is quite time that the Nation, the states, and individuals adopt 
a timber conservation policy. Much land is now cultivated, or has 
been cultivated, which is of small tillage value and is suitable for 
forestry. The most authentic sources of information indicate that 
there are three million acres of woodland in the state and six million 
acres more of non-agricultural land, making about twenty-five per 
cent of the land of the state of a character that invites serious con- 
sideration from a forestry standpoint. 

Two features of forestry policy are apparent, the improvement of 
the woodlands which we have and tree planting on non-agricultural 
land. Just as a good stand of corn is necessary to secure the maximum 
crop, so a full stand of timber is necessary to secure the best results. 
Interplanting in scanty forested woodlands would seem to be the first 
step in a forestry program. For the best result stock should be ex- 
cluded ; indeed, in a fairly wooded pasture the grazing is of no great 
value, and the damage that stock can do to the young growth is con- 
siderable. Exclusion of stock permits the formation of a forest mould, 
so essential to the best forest growth. 

Forestry on unwooded, non-agricultural land presents another 
problem, that of solid tree planting, the treatment required depend- 
ing upon the soil. Sandy, rocky, gullied or overflowed land each pre- 
sents problems peculiar to itself, the variety or varieties to be planted 
requiring study and investigation. The harvesting and marketing of 
mature trees require attention. The study of insect enemies and 
fungous diseases will be necessary if a state-wide forestry policy is de- 
cided upon. 

In all fairness it seems that an area as large as twenty-five per 

120 



FARM FORESTRY 121 

cent of the land of the state, which is not very productive, is of enough 
importance to be worthy of serious consideration. A tax exemption 
law of some kind for non-revenue producing forest lands and a system 
of insurance against fire are two very important factors to be con- 
sidered. The government subsidizes men to raise sugar and cotton. 
It protects the infant industries, but it penalizes the farmer with a 
high tax when he wants to raise trees. It does seem to me that a 
movement should be started to exempt the land devoted to forestry 
from taxation until the trees come to an age when it will be profitable 
to log them. It might w^ell be a real job for the State Forester to 
pass upon the condition of land that would exempt it from taxation. 
We must do something to encourage the planting of trees ; it takes 
years before a tree arrives at a stage where any profit can be got from 
it, and in that time encouragement should be given to the possessor 
and caretaker of the trees. 

I have lived my life near the Mississippi River, and I can re- 
member a time when there was not an hour of the day but what 
great rafts of pine logs went down the river. This has all stopped. 
I saw the last raft go down the river. There were days when good 
white pine lumber sold for two dollars a thousand feet. There is 
a lumber j^ard near my home which was once prosperous. The man 
in charge used to be the yard boss, but now there are only two men 
there, the boss and another man. 

Is it not high time that we did something on our own good land 
to supply the demand for lumber? We have heard considerable talk 
here that we must reduce the crop of corn. To me it seems that 
we must raise corn where corn can be raised. If it costs three times 
as much to raise corn in one place than in another, is it not good 
policy to use the land that cannot raise corn profitably for some other 
purpose? Fifty per cent of the corn acreage in Illinois is raised on 
land that never has paid and never will pay for raising corn. If we 
can devote that land to some other purpose, we will be better oflf. 
True conservation consists of putting land to that use for which it 
is best fitted and can be most profitably used. 




CAN ILLINOIS COME BACK AS A STOCK 
BREEDING GROUND? 

W. S. CORSA, W/iiie Hall 

HE title of the topic assigned carries not only an invitation 
to a discussion of the problems of live-stock breeding in 
Illinois, but a challenge to her live-stock breeders as well. 
We accept both the invitation and the challenge. We 
recall full well the outposts of the pioneers upon the 
prairies and the wooded grasslands of Illinois. The names 
of such worthies as Brown, Pickrell, Potts, Huston, Lovejoy, Dun- 
ham, Pierce, Goodwin, Judy, and the beneficence of their work de- 
scends to us as a precious heritage. Along with the inspiration of 
their example and accomplishment, we still have a notable member- 
ship of constructive, aggressive live-stock breeders, whose purposes, 
ideals, and methods are endeavoring to uphold the prestige and pros- 
perity of our commonwealth. In this they are tremendously 
aided by — 

The Natural Advantages of Illinois for the Production 

OF Live Stock 

Foremost among these natural advantages, as it appeals to me, 
is our wealth of limestone and its availability within comparatively 
easy reach of every farm. At moderate cost we can command this 
essential in live-stock production. With limestone in our soil to be 
transmuted through the chemistry of the crops into the bone and 
tissue of our live stock we may labor happily and confidently through 
the years, giving play to our fancy as to type ; we can bank upon 
the results of our previous work; we can go forward unafraid that 
our soil conditions will crumble our efforts. If we obtain a desirable 
size in our live stock we can maintain it. We are free from this 
dread struggle which is ever present for the live-stock breeder over 
vast live-stock areas such as Canada and the Argentine. Illinois may 
always expect visits of live-stock breeders from those countries. The 
same compelling reason as theirs prompts many of our sister states 
to consider favorably Illinois live-stock productions, and this probably 
always will be so. 

Furthermore the central location of Illinois may be counted upon 
as insuring constantly recurring visits of live-stock breeders from 
other states. The main arteries of transportation East and West, 

122 



A STOCK BREEDING GROUND 123 

reaching into the great Southwest and to the North, pass through the 
gateways of our state. Men may readily come here upon special 
mission or stop in transit. Many a visitor has come to the live-stock 
breeding farms of Illinois direct from the central markets. It was 
convenient for him to make the trip from such a point. He handles 
live stock commercially in a large way, and he is in need of a bit of 
live-stock leaven. And yet at no other time and under no other cir- 
cumstance would he have come to the Illinois farm. Proximity to 
the central live-stock markets is a natural and material advantage 
to breeders of purebred live stock fortunate enough to live and 
operate in Illinois. 

Possibly a less tangible advantage, but nevertheless one of far 
greater significance and real value attaching to purebred live-stock 
breeding in this state, is the circumstance that Illinois is the home of 
the "International." It is unnecessary to dwell upon that annually 
marvelous exposition. When traveling in other states I have been 
repeatedly distressed to hear young men of eager enthusiasm regret, 
as under recent financial conditions, their prohibitive distance from 
this final court of adjudication of supreme live-stock merit. These 
men wonder that all inhabitants of Illinois interested in live stock do 
not always attend the "International," And the answer is that 
Illinois people, manufacturers, merchants, and mechanics, as well as 
live-stock men, are coming more and more by their presence at the 
"International" to sense the value of this rigid short course in live- 
stock husbandry. 

Some Drawbacks 

With all of our natural advantages there are some drawbacks 
to be met in Illinois in the production of purebred live stock. Our 
state has no monopoly of these hindrances, which for the most part 
are simply useless and unnecessary drags upon our business and the 
prosperity of the state. It has seemed, and is still evident, that in 
Illinois there is a marked lack of esprit de corps among live-stock 
breeders. This lack is being overcome, in a measure, in state breed 
associations among the adherents of the various breeds ; but this spirit 
is more or less absent among those interested in somewhat competitive 
breeds and it is notably absent among the supporters of non- 
competitive breeds. The interest of the beef breeds in one another 
is that of mere decency, and possibly the same may be said of the 
dairy interests. The hog men have made marked progress in their 
get-together spirit; but the horsemen are tightening the traces of 



124 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

their own load, oblivious of the troubles of others. The fact remains 
that we are all part and parcel of the great live-stock industry of 
Illinois in which the human equation will largelj' delimit results for 
ourselves, for one another, and for Illinois. The area of Illinois is 
neither so great, nor is her heart so small, that she cannot successfully 
foster the sentiment of state pride among her children who breed and 
feed live stock. 

The banker indifferent to live stock, and especially to purebred 
stock, has been found occasionally in Illinois. He is more frequently 
encountered in this state than in states farther west, where, in nor- 
mal times, especially low terms and long-time loans are waiting for 
the man who is willing to undertake the improvement of the live- 
stock population. Fortunately, however, a great number of bankers 
in Illinois have the foresight and vision to see the end of the road 
of exclusive grain farming, or even of a live-stock industry based 
on scrub animals. It is not always the money of the banker that is 
wanted — in fact, it may not be desirable that the breeder should have 
it — but what is needed is an intelligent sj^mpathy and understanding 
on the part of the banker which will make him able and willing to 
give counsel and, where advisable, to render financial help. The 
lack of this mutual confidence has doubtless been frequently responsi- 
ble for individual disaster among live-stock men. And any great 
number of such occurrences in a community means one of two things : 
Either the community will settle down content with a very inferior 
and constantly deteriorating class of live stock, or its money will be 
constantly going away from home for such stock as it needs. The 
banker will be affected either way. 

It is strange that the state policy of Illinois should not be clearly 
and at the same time generously defined relative to promoting its 
own welfare through the purebred live-stock industry. It is re- 
grettable that some of its officers in the person of unwise assessors 
should oflBciously put the brakes on her welfare. Fortunately, how- 
ever, for the state, many men of discretion and judgment acting as 
assessors recognize the great assessable wealth spread over the com- 
munity through the enterprise and judgment of the purebred live- 
stock breeder. It is plainly unfair and even folly to tax the price 
which a breeder may have wisely or unwisely paid for an animal. 
Purebred and registered live stock should be assessed in accordance 
with their merit in the regular tax classification. That is to say, 
if top quality milk cows are assessed at fifty dollars, then the indi- 
viduals of a herd of purebred Holsteins or Jerseys should be rated at 
fifty dollars. 



A STOCK BREEDING GROUND 125 

A drawback to purebred live-stock raising in Illinois, as elsewhere, 
is the excessive transportation charge for purebred live stock in 
express and freight rates. It is necessary only to point out that the 
tarif? is loaded with double and triple the weights of the actual ani- 
mals, and that the rates are at the uppermost limit. It is noteworthy 
that in Canada, where the pure-bred industry is wisely cultivated, 
such pure-bred live stock may be transported at a reduced rate. In 
fact, on a recent shipment of horses from White Hall, Illinois, into 
Canada, the charge was as great to Detroit as to a point one hundred 
miles farther on in Canada, on a through bill of lading over the 
same road. 

Why Illinois Will Come Back 

The purebred business in Illinois is a going concern. That being 
a fact, the live-stock breeder is now finding himself fairly com- 
fortably situated as to cost of production and the imminence of his 
market. It will be well indeed for the breeder and his community 
when they recognize their mutual dependence and benefit. Really 
the live-stock field in Illinois has only been summer fallowed. A 
greater market awaits the Illinois purebred live-stock breeder within 
the boundary of his own state lines than most men ever dreamed of 
acquiring. The saving in railroad fares and freights, the oppor- 
tunity of inspecting the parent breeding stock and the farm practise 
employed, all will serve more and more to develop the home market. 

In the economy of live-stock production our comparatively 
favorable rates to the central markets mean much. No breeder may 
hope to reach the high rounds who invariably sells all of his best 
productions. Again, no breeder who keeps all, or any great part, of 
his poorer productions may hope to accomplish any good for himself 
or his breed. The road for these poorer specimens to take, in ever 
increasing numbers, is to the central markets. Cull, eliminate, ship 
and repeat. Feed the best to the best and ship the rest. If this is 
the policy, then Illinois will come back and we will come back with 
her. 

Indeed, Illinois must come back. Her present land values de- 
mand products of higher quality and value. The overhead of every 
farm — and this somewhat indefinite but very real item of expense is 
quite likely to grow rather than diminish — calls not only for economy 
of production, but for quality as well. Quantity in the production 
of live stock is not always a blessing. In fact, as has been well said, 
there may be a "curse of prolificacy." The female that with per- 



126 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

sistent regularity ushers misfits into the world should be discarded. 
The more of her kind we have the worse off we are, and the longer 
will Illinois be in coming back. 

The higher quality productions demanded by present land 
values must be found generally distributed over our state in the form 
of high-grade herds, flocks, and studs; and this, not alone for the 
recompense which will warrant present land values, but for the main- 
tenance of the life and health of our soil, our live stock, and our 
people. So, to some of us, it has seemed unfortunate that the attitude 
and teaching of our Agricultural College has apparently been mis- 
understood. Valuable as is the wonderful trinity of limestone, phos- 
phorus, and legumes, it further requires the participation of live stock 
to form the four-square quartet that is the invincible basis of Illinois 
agriculture. 

Among the agencies powerfully helping Illinois to come back 
in live-stock production is her College of Agriculture. Many friends 
of the College, recognizing the purity of her purpose in withdrawing 
the College team, some years since, from intercollegiate judging con- 
tests, are greatly pleased that she can now see her way clear to re- 
enter the lists. We believe this will meet with the hearty approval 
of the live-stock interests of Illinois and go a long way toward help- 
ing Illinois to come back, through the awakened enthusiasm of her 
student body. Further, may I suggest that the good work of bringing 
the live-stock breeders to the College be supplemented by taking the 
College to the breeders. Some of the live-stock breeders of Illinois 
feel that today they have more friends among the under-graduates 
and alumni of our sister state institutions than of their own state 
Agricultural College. This is simply because, from time to time, 
delegations of such students from states — not in every instance, neigh- 
boring states — have repeatedly visited the live-stock breeding farms of 
Illinois. The breeder of purebred live stock appreciates the stimulus 
and encouragement which comes from the personal visits of the under- 
graduates and the instructors of the agricultural colleges, but more 
especially does he appreciate those from the college of his own state. 

A very desirable contact is established between the breeders and 
the Agricultural College when it fosters state breed associations. The 
annual meeting of the Illinois Percheron Breeders' Association, just 
held here, reflects the steadying influence of the College through the 
quiet, thoughtful guidance of the State Association, from its organi- 
zation to the present, by a valued member of your staff. 

To aid her in coming back, Illinois has a new and mighty helper. 
He is full of the enthusiasm of youth, he is rich in the experience of 



A STOCK BREEDING GROUND 127 

the ages, his pleasure is in service to others. His name is "County 
Adviser." Selected and fitted for his work, from his youth up, by 
the Agricultural College, we can depend upon his energetic support 
of the higher and better things in Illinois agriculture. He is in 
almost every county, reaching to the uttermost township, encourag- 
ing the beginner, aiding the more experienced, organizing both for 
business. His intelligent direction of community eflfort is starting 
something. It is Illinois coming back. Already she is on her way. 
Illinois' pride in past performance, her natural advantages, her 
Agricultural College, the spur of her necessity, these will not com- 
pletely bring Illinois back. In the last analysis, that is up to the men 
and women of Illinois, Illinois is relying today upon the love and 
affection of her children to bring her home. Her men, now as of 
old, are men of courage and of industry. They are not lacking in 
gratitude for the rich inheritance of a good name, and a fertile soil, 
and they pledge themselves to pass this on unsullied and unimpaired. 
They have the vision to know that changing times do not change the 
eternal principles of a permanent agriculture. They have faith to 
believe that the opportunities of that agriculture will come again — 

"They do me wrong who say I come no more. 
When once I call and fail to find you in. 
For every day I stand outside your door — 
And bid you wake, and rise to fight and win." 




THE OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK IN ILLINOIS 

H. W. MuMFORD, Professor of Animal Husbandry, and 
Director of Live Stock Marketing, Illinois Agricultural Association 

N THE agricultural development of the corn belt of the 
United States, Illinois early occupied a prominent place. 
In this development, live-stock production played an im- 
portant part. 

It is not my province to deal with the historical 
phases of live-stock production in the state; but for the 
purpose of obtaining a proper perspective of the outlook for the 
industry in Illinois it may be pointed out very properly that Illinois 
breeders and feeders have occupied for many years an important place 
in live-stock affairs. In 1860 Illinois ranked third among the states 
of the Union in the value of her live stock, in 1870 second, in 1880 
first, and in 1900 dropped back to third place which position has 
been maintained. 

The importance of live stock to the agriculture of a state, how- 
ever, is not to be measured in numbers or even in value but rather 
by the contribution that live stock has made to its agricultural 
development. In the development of agricultural policies in the past 
too little consideration has been given to the various factors which 
have a direct bearing upon the development of particular phases of 
agricultural production, such as suitability of soil and climate, avail- 
able markets, labor supply, likes and dislikes of farmers themselves, 
and in some instances, as in meat and milk production, the inter- 
dependence upon other phases of agricultural production. 

Perhaps the most significant and encouraging sign in connection 
with live-stock production in the state of Illinois is the tendency to 
consider it in its national and even international aspects and to rec- 
ognize it in its relation to the farm business as a whole and not as a 
more or less separate and independent unit of the farm business. 
The more persistently these considerations are kept in mind, the 
more wisely and more permanently will the animal industry of the 
state be developed and guided into the most logical and profitable 
direction. 

Factors Affecting the Future of Live-Stock Production 
IN Illinois 

Most of the conditions that led to the prominence of live-stock 
production in Illinois in the past will continue to be determining 

128 



OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK 129 

factors affecting the future of live stock in the state. Some of the 
more important of these conditions are — 

(a) The large production of corn and oats. According to the 
Census of 1920, Iowa and Illinois produced twenty-eight per cent of 
all the corn produced in the United States in 1919. These two 
states sold nearly half, forty-eight per cent to be exact, of the total 
corn sold from the farms of the country. Illinois leads as a corn- 
surplus state. In oats, Iowa and Illinois produced thirty per cent of 
the total produced in the United States and sold 45.6 per cent of 
the total. Iowa leads as the oat-surplus state. 

The fact that Illinois is one of the leading corn-producing and 
corn-surplus states of the corn belt goes a long way toward deter- 
mining the direction which live-stock production has and should 
logically take ; viz., that type of animal production in which a rela- 
tively abundant and easily available supply of grain is essential. As 
examples of this type, we have meat and milk production in the form 
of beef, mutton, pork, poultry, and dairy products. The time will 
come if indeed it is not already here, when widespread, small-scale 
live-stock production as a conserver of grain-growing residues on most 
farms will not be despised. Every grain farmer is vitally concerned 
in the preservation of the live-stock industry. Under normal condi- 
tions approximately 80 per cent of the corn, 63 per cent of the barley, 
39 per cent of the oats, and 12 per cent of the wheat is fed to live 
stock. 

(b) A considerable area, approximately seventeen per cent of 
the land acreage in the state, is suitable primarily for pasture. If 
one will take the trouble to inventory the agricultural resources of 
the state suitable for live-stock production, he will find that there are 
in addition to considerable areas of land, very large quantities of 
feed that cannot be utilized advantageously in any other way. If 
the area in cultivation were increased to the highest possible state 
of intensity, there would be a decrease of the amount of land available 
for pasture but there would be an actual increase of available food 
for live stock. 

(c) Illinois is favorably located with reference to the leading 
live-stock markets of the country. It is doubtless true that live-stock 
producers in Illinois are at a slight disadvantage, when it comes to 
buying corn for finishing live stock for market, as compared with 
some other corn-belt states. On the other hand, no other state is so 
favorably located with reference to nearness to the great live-stock 
markets of the country. 



130 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

National Considerations 

In determining live-stock production policies for Illinois it is 
necessary to approach the subject from a national as well as a state 
standpoint. 

Speaking generally, live-stock production has not kept pace with 
the increase in population. It might be expected that this growing 
tendency would bring about a shortage which would favorably affect 
prices of live stock in the markets of the country, and to such an extent 
that live-stock production would be stimulated. The fact is however 
that, disregarding the war period, the margin of profit in the produc- 
tion of beef, mutton and pork has been narrowing for a considerable 
number of years. In very many cases it has disappeared altogether, 
and not infrequently very large losses have resulted. 

It is, I believe, literally true that one of the largest factors 
affecting live-stock production policies has been the fact that farmers 
find it increasingly difficult to make the finishing of beef cattle 
profitable. The anticipated shortage has failed to materialize, largely, 
it is believed, because of the falling off of our export demand for beef, 
due to the competition of Argentina, which has the advantage from 
the standpoint of cheapness of production. Similar analysis might 
be made of the mutton and wool industries. Looking forward, it is 
logical to anticipate that the competition in the meat markets of the 
world by such countries as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and South 
Africa will increase rather than diminish. Just what effect that will 
have upon live-stock production in Illinois and the United States 
should be given the most careful consideration. These facts are 
stated to emphasize the international aspects of live-stock production. 

Demand for Economy in Production and in Marketing 

No proper consideration of the outlook for live stock in Illinois 
can be complete without due regard to the trend of production and 
an examination of the causes of such tendencies. It is reasonable 
to conclude that in the main these tendencies are the normal result 
of changing conditions which are likely to continue to operate and 
which are certain to affect the agricultural policy of the state. 

From the standpoint of the live-stock producer, any condition 
or circumstance which stimulates production abnormally, whether due 
to temporary high prices or to zealous advocates, is likely to be 
followed by disastrous results to the producer. On the other hand, 
depressing conditions which tend to large reduction in our flocks and 
herds, threaten the normal supply of meat and are therefore of con- 



OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK 131 

cern to the public. It is therefore desirable that producers should as 
rapidly as possible approach an equilibrium in live-stock production, 
where the total production more nearly conforms to a normal demand 
for domestic meat products; and should formulate plans for the 
supplying of the markets with this live stock in quantities and kinds 
required. In this work Illinois will need to join with other states 
and act in harmony with them. 

As this country grows older and the population becomes more 
dense, the demand for cheap food will become more intense. This 
means, among other things, that if the laboring man, who should 
always be our largest consumer of meat, is able to eat as much meat as 
the nature of his work requires, it must be furnished to him at a price 
that is reasonable in comparison with other foods. 

This fact alone will force the practise of the greatest economy 
in the production and distribution of meat. Already there is no 
possibility of the producer securing adequate profit in the production 
of live stock by following wasteful methods of production. In order 
that the producer may receive the full benefit of a normal demand 
for his product, the costs of marketing and of the distribution of 
meats to the ultimate consumer are in importance second only to that 
of economical production. 

Much work has been done to improve methods of maintaining, 
fattening, and breeding of beef cattle. There still remains much to 
be done, particularly with reference to establishing rather definitely 
the place of the beef cow and the steer in systems of farming adapted 
to Illinois conditions. 

The Dairy Problem 

The live-stock problem as it relates to beef cattle and to dairy 
cattle seems to be different in some respects. The community and 
the individuals in a community who are in the dairy business are more 
prosperous if they do not depend alone on milk production for their 
profit, but on the selling of improved live stock as well as milk. That 
is, the successful dairyman must be a breeder of dairy cattle as well 
as a producer of milk. This applies as much to grade cattle as to pure- 
bred cattle. 

The man who approaches the dairy problem from the standpoint 
of raising dairy stock both for his own future herd and also to sell, 
requires a higher degree of intelligence. The production of milk 
alone as a source of income tends all the time to give inadequate 
attention to the health question of the cattle. Whereas the man who 
is breeding his own cattle for a future herd, expecting to get a part of 



132 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

his income from the cattle he breeds as well as from the milk, finds it 
necessary to look after the health of his cattle, so the whole health 
problem is involved in that system of dairy farming. 

It appears that the more prosperous dairy communities are those 
in which this dual-purpose is the aim of the individuals in the busi- 
ness. Such a system of dairy farming in any community or around 
any center will tend also to a more even supply of milk. The dual 
purpose in the dairy business leads to efficiency in production because 
the breeding of better dairy cattle leads to the production of a more 
efficient cow, cheapens production, and increases profits at the same 
time ; while the other does not necessarily tend that way. 

The future of dairying in Illinois will be very directly affected 
by the improvement in the milk marketing situation throughout the 
state. More attention should be given to developing a market that 
will recognize quality in milk. 

The kind of dairy farming referred to does not confine itself to 
milk production, because the sale of cattle is another profitable phase 
of the industry, and there is a marketing problem in the sale of cattle 
as well as in the sale of milk. It seems, therefore, that the prosperity 
of the dairy industry hinges upon a better marketing plan both for 
milk and for dairy cattle. In the marketing of dairy cattle the thing 
that we need to improve, in order to make that end of the business 
prosperous, is the health of the cattle ; and then we need to establish 
a reputation that is comparable with the health and quality of these 
cattle. 

The Place of Other Live Stock 

Not even a brief discussion of the future of live stock in Illinois 
would be complete without recognizing the very large place that swine 
will most certainly occupy. In this, as in all other live-stock enter- 
prises, new problems are constantly being presented; and upon the 
satisfactory solution of these the future of the industry will depend. 
Swine diseases, and the most profitable type of hog for corn-belt farms, 
are among the problems requiring the most thoro study. 

The poultry industry, the importance of which in this state is 
not generally recognized, will more and more force its claims upon 
the consideration of producers and the public. It will not be 
unexpected if this industry records a very marked development in the 
state during the next ten years. 

I can see no good reason why the business of finishing and fat- 
tening sheep and lambs for market and, at the same time, the keeping 
of small farm flocks, should not be extended in this state. 



OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK 133 

The horse, so recently threatened with banishment from corn- 
belt farms has demonstrated that he still deserves a place on every 
farm and for short haul work in cities. The location of the state, and 
the long years of successful experience of Illinois farmers in horse 
production, point to the conclusion that there should be some profit 
to a community in producing its own work stock, with possibly some 
surplus to sell. 

Future Lines of Development 

Broadly speaking, it is difficult at a time when agriculture 
is in such a disturbed condition as it is at present, to forecast the 
future of live stock in Illinois. Notwithstanding this, it is all the 
more desirable to take a forward look and indicate along what lines 
our thought and action should lie, keeping in mind that some of our 
conclusions will most likely need revision as the agriculture of the 
country returns to a more normal state. 

More economical production may still be effected as a result of 
further investigations in animal breeding and feeding. 

In the selection of breeding stock of dairy cattle, meat animals, 
or poultry, we follow rather blindly the traditions and standards 
handed down to us from the past, without much knowledge, except 
in dairy cattle, whether those standards are justified by the capacity 
of the animal to produce economically. A thoro testing of present 
standards for the selection of animals for various purposes such as 
meat, milk, and work is sorely needed. Not much progress has been 
made in developing practicable methods of measuring the efficiency 
of breeding animals of the meat-producing types. 

There is need for a greater degree of independent thought and 
action among live-stock breeders. Perhaps to too large an extent 
have breeders silently submitted to the fixation of types in our breeds 
by individuals and groups whose chief thought was more the com- 
mercialization of an idea than its utility. In general, live-stock 
breeders, while displaying great skill in the development of animals 
to meet the standards of the show ring, have lacked courage in giving 
proper recognition to the development of breeding animals with the 
usefulness of the animal in the every-day economy of the farm pri- 
marily in mind. It is to be hoped that this will be one of the sig- 
nificant developments of the next twenty-five years. 

The development of disease resistant strains, within our im- 
proved breeds of animals, offers a fertile field of inquiry. 



134 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

When it comes to practicable methods of extending the influence 
of better live stock throughout the state, a further development of 
community live-stock breeding projects gives much promise. 

A large field is still open in the direction of research. Studies 
should be conducted to ascertain the energy requirements of sheep, 
swine, and horses ; the factors which modify these requirements, par- 
ticularly the age of the animal, its size, condition, and the atmospheric 
conditions ; the efficiency of the horse in the performance of different 
kinds of farm operations ; and the efficiency of the conversion of the 
energy of feeds into meat, milk, and work, particularly as affected 
by light, medium, and heavy rations. 

The fact that the future of live stock in Illinois will to a large 
extent be shaped by the agricultural policy of the Nation, particularly 
of the corn belt, and by the larger movements in agricultural pro- 
duction in the world at large is unescapable. Because so much 
depends upon what the state as a whole, the Nation, and the world 
at large are doing, the largest possible assistance should be extended 
in the development of plans for securing such information and making 
it generally available for live-stock producers. 

In helping to solve the various problems arising out of live-stock 
production, large use of economics will be required. Not only should 
the most thoro research in agricultural economics be encouraged, 
but also it is particularly important that agricultural students who 
are to be the leaders in agricultural thought in the state should be 
well grounded in the principles of economics. We must learn to fit 
our live-stock operations into systems of farming so that they will 
utilize, not only our surplus, but also the by-product feeds of the farm, 
which would otherwise ordinarily go to waste. We must not allow 
our live-stock operations permanently to take out of the cropping 
system land that can better be utilized for grain production. In 
other words, any attempt to preserve a phase of agriculture when its 
preservation is uneconomic is a short sighted policy and indefensible. 

In our zeal to make the greatest possible use of this field of 
study it is not necessary that the sense of proportion with reference 
to other fields of study should be lost. The question resolves itself 
rather into extending our lines of study, and to utilizing economics 
in attempting to interpret and to gain a better understanding of the 
relation of the various phases of agriculture, and indeed of the relation 
of agriculture to other industries. 

No other institution is in as strategic a position to give proper 
direction to the future of live stock in Illinois as the University of 



OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK 135 

Illinois. It is of the utmost importance that the teachings of the 
Agricultural College, the agricultural research of the Experiment 
Station, and the work of the Extension Service should all materially 
contribute to the proper development of the live-stock industry, and 
that none of these should fall into the very natural error of the 
specialist of viewing agricultural problems primarily from the point 
of view of the development of special phases of agricultural produc- 
tion. In determining a proper agricultural policy for the state of 
Illinois, live-stock production should occupy an important place because 
without large live-stock holdings it is impossible to secure the largest 
utilization of all the agricultural resources of the state. 




ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT 

W. N. RuDD, Blue Island 

T IS perhaps hardly twenty years ago that in writing a paper 
on this subject for presentation before almost any audience 
in our state, one would have been pessimistic as to its 
reception, almost certain that it would not be considered 
worthy of serious attention; perhaps well enough for the 
women to talk about, along with their posy beds, but 
nothing for a hard-headed, upstanding, two-fisted man to waste time 
upon. The writer would have felt it necessary to devote half his 
space to special pleading, in a timid way, for a hearing, and the 
balance largely to showing how little really need be done and how 
very, very cheaply improvements could be made. 

Today, there is not one person present here who does not realize 
fully the great importance of banishing from our homes, and from the 
surroundings among which we do our work, all that we can of the 
ugly and unsightly; and of bringing in all that may be possible of 
the sightly and the beautiful — importance, mind you, not only on the 
esthetic side but on the cold, hard, dollars and cents side also; in 
the proved increase in our property values, in the better output of labor 
when we are working in pleasant surroundings, in the greater happi- 
ness which will keep more of our young people at home, and in the 
increased traffic attracted by beautiful drives and the increased busi- 
ness which it brings to our neighbors who are makers and sellers of 
things needed or desirable. We can approach the subject confidently 
today, as one of accepted importance, without necessity of excuse, 
apology, or special pleading. Our problem now is not whether to do, 
but what to do ; and how, when, and where to do it. 

It is stated on apparently good authority that there are 96,000 
miles of public highway in Illinois. Those who are so minded may 
find interest in estimating how many times these highways, if con- 
tinuous, would go around the earth's circumference and how many 
trees it would take, if planted fifty feet apart, to border each one of 
them on both sides. Truly, in the light of these figures, our subject 
becomes a very big one indeed. We have no need to be discouraged 
at the magnitude of the task, however. It will be spread over many 
years to come, and we and our children and our children's children will 
all be working at it. 

The work divides itself naturally into two lines: first, to do 
away with the ugly or unsightly, so far as we can; second, to add 

136 



ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT 137 

such elements of beauty as are found desirable and feasible, after 
a careful study of topographical, climatic, and soil conditions, econom- 
ical first cost and, especially, cheapness of maintenance. Above all, 
we must ever have in mind that a road is built for a very real and 
a very definite purpose of use, a supremely important use; and w^e 
must not in our work either take away or add anything which will, 
in any serious degree, prevent the most free and the fullest use for 
which the road was built, or interfere with the facilities which it was 
intended to furnish. 

It is a fundamental principle of decorative art, perhaps the 
fundamental principle, that any attempt to embellish, or to orna- 
ment, or to beautify a thing intended for use, which results in render- 
ing that thing less useful or less easily used, is bad art — always and 
everywhere. Confidentially, and "mentioning no names," the appli- 
cation of this test of true art to certain buildings in a certain one 
of the world's great universities, might reveal some art that is — well! 
not good. But that's another story. 

The first line of work, the removal of unsightly things, is easy 
to carry out. The greater part of the unsightly things are left or 
placed in the highway or near it by thoughtless or careless persons. 
Persuasion and the arousing of public sentiment will secure the 
removal of the unnecessary and the repair of the dilapidated. The 
expenditure of money in this connection will rarely be needed. 

Perhaps the most difficult of all the ugly things along the high- 
way, to handle, are the billboards generally erected in the precise 
location where they may destroy all pleasure in the finest view, or 
most effectually exasperate the lover of Nature's beauties. The 
National Civic Association is conducting a campaign against them, 
and has issued bulletins covering the matter very thoroughly ; so that 
nothing need be said at this time, except the suggestion that a drastic 
license fee might be imposed, increasing with the size of the board, 
and a little neighborly remonstrance exerted with the owner who 
allows his land to be used, or his buildings to be defaced, for such 
purposes. 

The growing custom of erecting advertising signboards, masquer- 
ading as directing or distance signs, should be checked. It is entirely 
within the powers of highway officials to remove them and to prevent 
the erection of others. An aroused public sentiment is the remedy. 
The rural mail box is a necessity, but the straggling groups of them 



138 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

looking like groups of drunken sailors at almost every junction of 
our country roads should not be permitted. The highway officers 
have full power to designate places for them and to require their 
erection and maintenance in a proper, orderly, and sightly way. 

The nailing of signboards and political and other notices to trees, 
telegraph poles, and fence posts need not be permitted. Public bulletin 
boards of unobtrusive size might well be erected at selected locations 
and their use allowed on permits, possibly after the payment of small 
fees sufficient to provide for their erection and maintenance. The 
many other small nuisances will, in most cases, each suggest an obvious 
and ready way for its abatement. 

The lines of telegraph, telephone, and electric light poles are 
unsightly things which we cannot at present do away with, but we 
can at least require their being maintained in a neat and upright 
position and prevent the unsightly bracing we so often see applied 
to weak or improperly set poles. The tree mutilation which so fre- 
quently accompanies the operation of such lines is a crime, to the lover 
of beautiful trees. The courts have allowed punitive damages to the 
owners of adjoining land who have planted the trees, in such cases; 
and it is perfectly feasible for public officials having jurisdiction, to 
prosecute and punish such offenses. 

In one Canadian province, at least, the pole nuisance is being 
minimized by increasing the width of main highways from sixty-six 
to eighty-six feet, placing the poles outside the trees in the added 
strip of ground, thus rendering them less conspicuous and much 
less likely to interfere with tree growth. Our Illinois country is much 
more thickly settled and our farms of much greater value, so that, 
except in unusually favorable locations and for short distances, it 
would not seem feasible to adopt this desirable practise in our state. 

So much for the negative, the easy and the obvious part, of our 
great task. The other part, the constructive part, is not by any means 
so simple a thing. It is always easier to tear down than to build, 
always easier to take a blemish out of a picture than to create the 
picture. 

We are to be makers of beautiful pictures just so truly as the 
painter who works with his oils and his colors on the flat canvas. 
Our colors are the trees, the shrubs and the flowers which we use. 
The painter's colors dry to their final hue tomorrow, or next week; 
ours, not for a generation or more. The little saplings which we 
plant today will not fill the space we have planned for them, nor 
give the ultimate effect desired, until, perhaps, after we are dead and 
forgotten. We seldom see the finished result except in our mind's 
eye. We shall therefore be wise if in doing this work we obtain the 



ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT 139 

advice of those who by long study and varied experience can direct 
vv^ith a sure eye and a competent hand. 

Our state, as you know, is a land in large part of flat level 
prairies and our roads, often for mile after long mile, run straight- 
away without turn or curve and without appreciable rise or fall. 
Our present accepted hard road construction is an eighteen-foot streak 
of gray or almost white concrete, stretching away miles beyond all 
possible range of vision; mathematically exact at its edges, never 
widening, never narrowing; and then the fences equidistant on each 
side, wire and posts, wire and posts, and more wire, and more posts, 
posts without end ; and we begin to understand what Kipling's soldier 
felt with his 

Boots, Boots, Boots, Boots, 
Slog, slog, slogging up and down 

and we try to make a little rhyme to match it beginning — 
Posts, Posts, Posts, Posts, 

and we can't do it because rhyming is neither our trade nor our 
profession. And there is your Illinois road for many miles, in many 
parts of the state, and there is your problem, to take the curse off of it. 
It is a most difficult one to solve; but we can be thankful that few, 
in fact none, of the others are so difficult. It can be solved; all 
problems can be solved, except, possibly what to do with our telephone 
poles. 

The person who has given little study to the question will be 
quite apt to say, with conviction: "The whole problem is a simple 
one. Plant trees. Plant them on both sides of the road. Plant them 
by the thousand. You can't have too many trees. What is more 
beautiful than a fully developed maple or a perfect, mature elm? 
What greater delight than to drive under the cool shade of their 
over-arching boughs, sheltered from the scorching sun of a July day ?" 
Ah! But after July and August come September and October, and 
the winter months and then spring. Only a small part of our days 
are July days. We must have variety. We must have delights for 
all days, not July days alone. 

I can conceive of nothing more monotonous than an endless 
ribbon of gray road seen through a never-ending arch of green boughs, 
except, possibly, the same road without any trees at all. No! It 
would be deadly monotony and our traveler would again be at his 
rhyme, only instead of posts, it would be Trees, Trees, Trees, Trees. 
We must have variety and change. We must have ever new and 
different beauties. We must not shut out the beautiful distant views. 



140 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Wc must have open spaces where the large trees give way to masses 
of shrubs and groups of the smaller native trees and their fall coloring 
of foliage and the winter berries and colored bark. There must be 
places where there is no planting at all, to distract the eye from lovely 
distant views. There will be a few groups of the hardier flowering 
plants here and there in the open ; not too many, because their lives 
are short and their upkeep expensive. There will be many noble 
avenues of trees, and let us hope that we may be able to widen the 
roadway along those avenues. There will be isolated specimen trees. 
There will be trees planted in groups; trees in rows on one side of 
the road only. There may be wooded areas adjoining our roadway 
which can be acquired cheaply and through which winding, unpaved 
summer drives may be opened to tempt the traveler ofi the beaten 
track. There may be adjacent swampy or wet areas of little agri- 
cultural value which will lend themselves finely to a very different 
style of planting. Perhaps we may find cheap areas at the inter- 
sections of roadways where planting may be done in a parklike way 
and thus improve two roadways with one planting expense. 

We have thus sketched hurriedly and most imperfectly plans 
which if carried out in spirit would make the highways of our great 
state an inspiration and a delight to all people, to the traveler from 
other sections, to the busy man journeying on his daily affairs, to 
the children on their walks to and from school, and to the whole 
family on its way to church. 

Mention of our schools and our churches brings us squarely up 
against the fact that these two institutions, alongside our roads, are 
in general the greatest offenders in the length and breadth of Illinois 
in the way of maintaining unbeautiful and even positively ugly con- 
ditions in the grounds surrounding the buildings which they occupy. 
The old Puritan idea that religion is an austere and an unlovely thing 
has been cast aside and we now believe that religion is most beautiful 
in all ways. Why then should we not surround the edifice where we 
go to practise its rites with all the beauty that we can reasonably 
give it? Why should not every schoolyard be planted with flowers 
and flowering shrubs and these young, plastic minds taught to love 
such things, and how to cultivate and protect them? Why should 
not they be taught to protect our beautiful wild flowers ; to pick them, 
when really desired, carefully and with moderation, instead of ruth- 
lessly dragging them out of the ground, roots and all, by arms full, 
to be carried for a little while and then thrown aside Ihat more may 
be pulled up and destroyed? 



ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT 141 

I^ can all be done so easily and so cheaply, although we may 
have to go among those who are training our teachers and drive out 
some oi the worship of teaching methods and drive in a little more 
attention to what to teach. We can well do with a little less of 
George Washington, and Raphael, and Leonardo, and with a good 
deal more of Daffodil, and Primrose, and Columbine. 

Granting the extreme desirability, the almost necessity, of the 
roadside improvements we are advocating, the question then comes, 
"What of the cost?" With economical and careful planning, the 
ultimate cost can be made astonishingly low. One one-hundredth 
part of what we are spending for hard roads would enable us to 
accomplish wonders in improving those same roads; and the work 
need not be done all at once, but could be spread over a number of 
years, making an absurdly small annual charge. 

The elimination part of our programme could well be carried out 
by small groups of people working in their home localities. The 
constructive work could better be handled by larger organizations, 
perhaps county-wide. The work on the state-maintained roads 
might well be centralized in a group closely allied to and functioning 
with those in charge of the maintenance of those roads. Friction 
and overlapping authority could thus be avoided, and greater economy 
in both our construction and maintenance be attained. 




THE COUNTRY HOME 

J. V. Stevenson, Streator 

51 HE future of our nation depends upon the kind of citizens 
that we produce. In turn, what our citizens are depends 
very largely upon the homes they come from, so I take 
it that it is in this light that we are interested in discuss- 
ing the country home today. The statement has been 
made often, and needs no proof here, that the most of our 
leaders in thought and action have come at some time from the farm. 
This has been true all through our history, from the days of the log 
cabin country home down to the present time. We are constantly 
drawing on our rural population for new blood, in government, in 
business, in all the professions. And it is this steady stream of new 
blood, pure, virile, and one hundred per cent American, that has 
enabled us to forge ahead and assume the lead among all nations. 

Citizens in the Making 

What is it, then, in the training and home life of the country 
bred citizen that gives him this virility and dependability so essential 
to success? We might mention first the influence of pure air, pure 
food, of quiet and natural surroundings and plenty of sleep. These 
help to develop our country children into better "animals." A sound 
body and a sound mind make up a useful combination. Without 
either a person is out of balance and his usefulness is impaired. 

Closely related to this matter of good physical development is 
another point in favor of the man or woman reared in the country. 
Almost from the time the child is able to walk it begins to learn 
something about work. The little girl four years old can help her 
busy mother in many ways; the boy of the same age loves to 
follow his father around while he is doing the chores. And he too, 
very early finds things that he can do to help, and ways in which 
he can save his father a good many steps. While the little tots are 
thus saving their parents a good bit of energy, the effect on the chil- 
dren is of vastly greater importance; for they are learning to work. 
They are learning that there are things to be done every day and at 
certain times of the day, and that if these things are not done at the 
proper time more or less serious consequences will result. 

A little later the child goes to school. Before and after school the 
city child has nothing to do but play. The father is busy at the office 

142 



THE COUNTRY HOME 143 

or the store or the factory. The mother is frequently also busy at the 
club or the shops or the matinee. The child is left more or less to his 
own devices, and he plays with his school friends, often in the street 
or alley, having no other place to play. Here schoolboy "gangs" are 
formed. Here he learns every form of meanness that boys know, and 
very frequently right here is planted the seed that later develops into 
the hardened criminal. The country child, on the other hand, has his 
chores to do both morning and evening. The woodbox must be filled, 
the chickens fed, the eggs gathered, the cows milked. Those chores 
are just as much a part of his day's routine as eating his three meals 
or going to bed at night. So, while his city cousin is playing with 
the gang in the street or going to a movie or otherwise offering a 
fertile field for Satan who "finds mischief for idle hands to do," the 
country boy is keeping his hands busy doing useful work, and what 
is more important, is forming the habit of doing things on time. 

Another point in favor of the country child's training is that he 
knows nature and learns to distinguish between the fundamentals 
and the non-essentials of life. To him clothes are incidental, and 
the tricks of so-called polite society are unknown. But he knows how 
things grow, and he knows something of the relative value of the 
things that we eat and wear and work with. The city boy of twelve 
probably knows the latest fashion in clothes, the latest fad in haircuts 
and the newest song hit on the street. But in many cases he does not 
know whether potatoes grow on trees or bushes, whether some of the 
cows give buttermilk or whether we "keep a bee" to furnish the 
honey for our table. 

The Farmer's Life an Open Book 

There is one feature of the farmer's business that has an important 
effect upon his home life and his moral development. In his business 
there is little chance for concealment or deceit. While the work of 
others may be surrounded with considerable secrecy, which may lead 
to misrepresentation, the farmers' business is always open to inspec- 
tion. He cannot hide his fields or his stock from his neighbor's eyes. 
So, while the business man may talk in terms of many figures and 
may contrive to make his business appear much more important than 
it really is, it is a comparatively easy matter for any farmer to know 
in a general way what his neighbor is doing in any of his productive 
enterprises. When a man's business is thus open and above board, 
it is reflected in the character of his home life. He is a better hus- 
band, a better parent, a better citizen. 



144 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

And this leads me to what is perhaps the most important factor 
in this development of citizenship in the country home. It is the sym- 
pathetic relationship that exists in the farm family. Three times a 
day the whole family gather at the table for meals. All of them 
know what the others are doing and they are interested in talking 
about the things that affect the whole family. In the eveniags, after 
the work is done, again all enjoy this companionship, lying on the grass 
in the yard to cool off on summer evenings, or sitting by the fire in 
winter with popcorn and apples and books and music. 

What sort of place is this country home that offers so many 
advantages for the training of citizens; where shall we find it and 
how may we know it at sight? I would say that it will be found 
surrounded by evidences of good farming. We may expect to find 
good barns and outbuildings of all kinds kept well painted, a silo, 
good herds of well-bred live stock kept in by good fences, land well 
tilled and crops well diversified and with evidence of a careful con- 
servation of soil fertility. The dwelling will be of permanent con- 
struction, will be designed to harmonize with its location, and will 
be surrounded by a grassy lawn with enough shade trees and simple 
landscape planting to make a good play ground for children and a 
pleasant resting place for grown people. Inside the house we may 
expect to find modern conveniences, including a bathroom, modern 
heating system, electric lights, mechanical laundry equipment, com- 
fortable furniture, a piano or a phonograph or both, and many good 
books and current magazines. This is the kind of country home 
that in this twentieth century will induce companionships within the 
family, develop in children a love of farm life, bring out the best 
there is in them, physically, mentally and spiritually, and give them 
a memory of home to cherish always. 

How Far We Are from the Ideal 

I wish I might stop here and say that I have described the ma- 
jority or even the average of farm homes in Illinois. If that were 
true we need have no concern about the future of our agriculture. 
Unfortunately it is not true, for so far in our development we have 
built very few permanent farm homes. The great majority of them 
have been merely dwelling houses built only with the idea of furnish- 
ing the lodging facilities necessary to carry on the farm business. But 
the time is coming, and it seems to me that it is not far distant, when 
we shall realize that the farm home must furnish more than lodging. 
It must furnish comforts and conveniences that will make country 



! THE COUNTRY HOME 145 

life satisfying and efficient. There are many farmers in Illinois 
today who can build such homes as soon as they make up their minds 
that they want them. To those I would say that I believe there is no 
other way that they can buy as much satisfaction with their money 
as in building an up-to-date, permanent farm home. There are very 
many others who want such homes, but have not the means to get 
them, and it is their case that I wish to present in this paper. 

Take first the case of the tenant farmer. In some of our richest 
corn-belt counties seventy per cent of the farms are operated by 
tenants. Now there are some tenant farms where the home very 
closely approaches the ideal, but they are rare. In the majority of 
cases the owner is interested only in taking as much as he can from 
the farm every year. He has never realized or considered the im- 
portance of preserving the fertility of the soil. His business has been 
to mine that fertility just as rapidly as possible. Likely he lives in a 
distant city, perhaps in another state. Possibly all the business is 
handled through a third party acting as agent. In any case there is 
little or no thought given to the matter of making the place attractive 
or homelike. The only improvements made are those that are con- 
sidered necessary to make the farm workable and to insure the land- 
lord his rent from year to year. What is the result? A farmstead 
consisting of a little cluster of cheaply constructed and unattractive 
buildings, set very likely on the bleakest, most desolate part of the 
farm, with very few trees for shade and comfort and no grassy lawn 
for children to play in. No good live stock; because the landlord 
won't build barns to house them, and won't allow land sown to clover 
or other hay or pasture crops to feed them. Constantly diminishing 
yields, because the landlord can't see far enough ahead to provide for 
maintaining the fertility of his soil. Can you imagine children grow- 
ing up in such surroundings with the desire in their hearts to be 
farmers? Is it any wonder that they flock to the cities as soon as 
they are free to shift for themselves? 

What is the Remedy? 

What is the remedy? A step in the right direction will be taken 
when landlords stop renting from year to j^ear on a single year lease, 
and adopt the long term lease, making provision for live stock and 
soil fertility requirements. This will make life seem more worth 
while to the tenants, will make them better farmers, better home- 
makers, better citizens. Some landlords argue that they cannot get 



146 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

tenants to whom they are willing to rent the place for more than one 
year at a time. To them I would say that if such a condition exists, 
it is a strong argument in favor of restricting the amount of land 
that can be held by an absentee landlord. There has been considerable 
agitation about this matter and much argument on both sides. It 
seems to me that we must agree that better homes and better citizens 
are the rule on farms operated by the owners than on farms which are 
part of large holdings belonging to absentee landlords. If the state 
is interested in having better homes and better citizens, and if we 
agree that these are encouraged by the pride of ownership, certainly 
we should welcome a law placing a reasonable limitation on the 
amount of land that any man might own unless he worked it himself. 
But merely passing such a law will not get us very far in the 
solution of this problem. We must provide not only for the sale of 
part of the landlord's holdings, but we must provide also for their 
purchase by the tenants. And this is by no means easy under present 
conditions. A tenant, or any one who desires to buy a farm, may do 
so if he has accumulated approximately half the price. The other 
half can be borrowed by giving a mortgage on the land as security. 
Under the old system of borrowing from mortgage brokers, a mort- 
gage on a farm for half the purchase price is by no means to be lightly 
considered or carelessly contracted. Such loans usually run for five 
years. Within that time it is very often impossible for the young 
farmer to pay any considerable amount. Then there is hanging over 
him all the time the dread of this mortgage, the knowledge that on a 
certain date it will be due, and the fear that he will not be able to 
renew the loan, or will be required to pay a generous commission to 
the agent who handles it. Instances are known where the commission 
charged for obtaining a loan of this kind was equivalent to one year's 
interest. Hence the traditional dread of mortgages, and the plan 
followed by so many farmers of skimping and scraping and slaving 
during the best part of their lives, and sacrificing education, culture, 
physical comfort and even health, in order to get out of debt. We 
need not be reminded that real homes cannot be developed under these 
conditions. In many cases these farmers and their wives not only 
spend the best part of their lives trying to pull out of debt, but they 
come in time to develop a habit of scraping and saving to pay off 
mortgages, a habit that they never overcome. They start out to pay 
of? on their farm that they may have a home free of encumbrance. 
It takes all they can save to do the trick. There is nothing left for 
even the ordinary comforts of life. When the farm is finally paid 



THE COUNTRY HOME 147 

for, they mortgage it again to buy more land in order to be sure to 
have enough for a "rainy day." And early training has instilled in 
them such a fear of mortgages that they continue to deny themselves 
the comforts of life until they are all paid out. Often this goes on 
and on until several hundred acres of land have been acquired. Then, 
realizing that they are growing old, they decide to build a modern 
home and enjoy life. But it is too late. The early habits have be- 
come fixed. They may build the finest house in the community, and 
surround and equip it with all the conveniences that money can buy. 
But they cannot be happy because they do not know how to enjoy 
these things. All their lives they have thought of nothing but saving 
money and in so doing they have stunted their intellects and souls so 
they will be miserable for the rest of their days. 

Our Limited Credit Facilities 

The Federal Land Bank and the Joint Stock Land Banks go part 
way in the solution of this problem. They loan to the purchaser of 
land up to fifty per cent of its value in most parts of the country. 
They furnish a loan that never comes due. By means of the prin- 
ciple of amortization the borrower makes a nominal payment every 
six months and in thirty-three years' time both principal and interest 
are completely paid. The old dread of the mortgage becoming due 
is removed. The borrower feels better able to invest part of his 
income each year in things that will make his farming more efficient 
and his life more satisfying. Among these things he will include the 
improvement of his home. He feels free to give a little time and 
thought to reading, music, and various forms of culture that make 
him a better home man and a better citizen. 

But what about the young couple who want a farm home and 
don't have the fifty per cent for the initial payment? The Federal 
Land Bank cannot help them. There is no way for them to buy a farm 
unless they can find some good friend who is financially able and 
willing to loan them the other half of the price either on their per- 
sonal note or with a second mortgage as security. But in the majority 
of cases such a friend cannot be found. What, then is the result? 
They must start out as tenants, probably on a farm that they can 
never expect to own or to make their permanent home. And you need 
not be told that it is a long and hard pull for them to get enough 
money ahead to make the initial payment on a farm. Not only is 
it a long and hard pull, and one that takes the best part of their lives 
in doing, but in the great majority of cases it is work done on a farm 



148 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

that they can never expect to own, and is accordingly time wasted as 
far as building a real home is concerned. Surely one of the most 
urgent matters before the country today is that of providing some 
sort of credit facilities for the young farmer and his wife starting with- 
out capital in order that they may get started at once toward making 
a home of their own. 

Better Credit, and Then — 

But again we must realize that even this will not take us all the 
way. A good farmer remarked just recently that to be able to bor- 
row money is important, but to be able to pay it back is more im- 
portant. Certainly we need better credit facilities for farmers, but 
just as certainly we need a better assurance of being able to pay out. 
For pay day always comes, and it is hard to see how the farmer can 
afford to pay six per cent interest for money to invest in a business 
that does not yield that much in returns. And we must face the 
fact that even with pre-war price relations reestablished, the average 
farmer cannot buy corn-belt land, equip and farm it, and make six 
per cent on his investment after paying wages, taxes, insurance, upkeep, 
and living expenses, not to mention wages for the work done by his 
wife and family. Now if it is going to be necessary for the farmer 
to deny himself and his family all culture and even the ordinary com- 
forts of modern life to make both ends meet, we cannot hope to 
build a very great number of permanent homes in the country, and 
we cannot expect to keep our best young men and women on the farm. 
If it is worth while to give a college education in agriculture, that 
education should fit the student for life on the farm. For not all of 
our graduates can spend their lives in research or teaching or exten- 
sion work. And in just so far as the products of our agricultural 
college will go back to the farm to put in practise the principles they 
have learned here, in just that measure will the influence of the 
college grow and strengthen our commonwealth. 

But it is commonly said that a college education trains the boy 
or girl away from the farm. And in a measure this is true. Four 
years here at college have accustomed them to conveniences and com- 
forts that they have never had on the farm. Not fine clothes and 
elaborate furniture and gay society, but things that are coming more 
and more to be regarded as necessities of life. Running water, good 
lights, mechanical laundry and cleaning equipment, music and books 
and, what is just as important, a little time to enjoy them; a home 
and farmstead built to harmonize with its surroundings and furnish 



THE COUNTRY HOME 149 

an attractive place to live, these are the things that are more and 
more going to be demanded of the farm home. And no matter what 
other advantages farm life may afford, we cannot hope to see our 
best young men and women stay on the farm if they are denied these 
comforts. Just recently, I heard an old farmer who has spent all his 
life in hard work and who has never had the advantage of higher 
education or modern culture, say that he thought often when a farmer 
comes in hot and dusty from a hard day's work a good shower bath 
would do him more good than his supper. "And yet," he said, "the 
farmer is in the most part denied this comfort which is commonly 
available to the factory workers in our cities." Now we agree, and 
others are coming to realize, that farming is the biggest business in the 
nation today. Such a business demands that a great many of our 
best young men and women stay on the farm. Let me repeat that not 
many of them are going to be willing to stay there if they must deny 
themselves the common comforts and conveniences of daily life that 
are enjoyed by the average resident of our cities. Surely we must 
have in the country more real homes, homes that are not merely 
dwelling houses but homes that provide the advantages that will make 
country life attractive and will give to our future citizenship the 
greatest possible development. 

The Lord Helps Them That Help Themselves 

How is this to be brought about ? I should say by the farmers 
themselves. The main thing needed is to make farm business more 
profitable, to make farm returns somewhat comparable to the returns 
of other industries that require a similar investment and corresponding 
ability. Before we can build many permanent country homes, our 
farm business must be made to pay a fair rate of interest on the 
necessary money and time and ability invested. This cannot be 
brought about by any special governmental concession or guarantee, 
but a great deal can be accomplished by the farmers themselves. 

Much can be done in this direction by the use of better systems 
of farming, systems that will enable the farmer to produce more 
efficiently and at lower cost. This is a matter of education and I 
believe our research and extension activities should continue and be 
further developed along this line. 

But better farming cannot do it all. We must realize more 
and more that our business does not stop with production. We must 
pay more and more attention to the economical marketing of our 
products till they reach the consumer's hands, in order that we, as 



150 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

well as the consumer, may benefit by more efficient methods. This is 
a job that no farmer can do individually, but we are just beginning to 
learn that we can do it by organization. Not only through cooperative 
marketing can organization help us to a better return for our invest- 
ment, but through organization and in that way alone, can we bring 
our case to the attention of the general public. Through organiza- 
tion farmers can meet around the council table or in legislative hall 
on equal basis with capital and labor, and thresh out such questions 
as taxation, transportation, and finance, that are vitally connected with 
the matter of income. 

Now these cooperative organizations in order to be successful 
must have the right kind of leaders. These leaders must have a 
technical knowledge of agriculture. They must have a knowledge 
of the principles and methods of cooperation as they have been worked 
out through experience in this and other countries. And they must 
be instilled with the idea of giving service to their communities. I 
believe the University should give attention to the special training 
of men to be leaders in these cooperative organizations. The state- 
ment may seem far-fetched, but I believe it is true, that one of the 
greatest contributions the University can make to the development 
of the country home is the training of the men to be leaders of 
farmers' cooperative movements. 

In closing let me repeat that we can hope for better country 
homes only when the business of farming becomes more profitable. 
The farmer has it in his own power to bring this about, first by his 
individual effort to produce more efficiently, and secondly by his 
organized effort to market more efficiently and use his influence 
toward a fair solution of our state and national problems. I have 
said that these farmers' organizations must have wise and well-trained 
leaders. Their success will depend ultimately, however, upon personal 
interest and activity of the individual farmer. If, through lack of 
interest, he allows his organization to be controlled by a few men 
with selfish personal ambitions, or allows it to degenerate into a 
paternalistic scheme supported by government funds, it will fail. In 
my humble opinion nothing in recent years, if indeed in our whole 
history, has dignified agriculture as an occupation so much as the 
growth and work of our farm bureau organizations. And this is true 
because the organizations were built by the farmers themselves. 
Therein lies the hope that we shall eventually solve our problems as 
they come to us, including the problem of the country home. 




PHYSIOLOGICAL BASES OF CROP 
PRODUCTION 

W. L. BuRLisON, Professor of Crop Production 

JIHROUGHOUT all ages the growth of plants has inter- 
ested thoughtful men," "The beginning of plant culture 
goes far back into history." "The mystery of the change 
of an apparently lifeless seed to a vigorous growing plant 
never loses its freshness." And it is evident, too, that as 
time goes on and the world's food problem becomes more 
complex, this interest will steadily develop. 

A review of some of the world's literature relating to agriculture 
reveals many interesting statements. It was thought by some gar- 
deners that the moon exercised a controlling influence on the growth 
of plants. Others thought that the ruling force was an unknown 
God whose power never could be known. Before the advent of the 
fifteenth century, speculation and superstition ruled supreme. Since 
about the middle of the fifteenth century, plant culture studies have 
passed through certain rather well defined epochs, each in turn con- 
tributing valuable information and thus enlarging and enriching our 
knowledge of how plants grow. 

The Search for the "Principle of Vegetation"* 

Almost five centuries ago, Palissy said : "You will admit that 
when you bring dung into the field it is to return to the soil some- 
thing that has been taken away. When a plant is burned it is reduced 
to a salty ash called Alcaly, by apothecaries and philosophers — every 
sort of plant, without exception, contains some kind of salt. Have 
you not seen certain labourers when sowing a field with wheat for the 
second year in succession, burn the unused wheat straw which had 
been taken from the field. In the ashes will be found the salt that 
the straw took out of the soil ; if this is put back, the soil is improved. 
Being burned on the ground it serves as manure because it returns 
to the soil those substances which had been taken away." These 
facts have been confirmed in part from the study of chemistry. 

Early in the sixteenth century, a search for the "principle of veg- 
etation" was begun by Von Helmont. His work is regarded as the 
classic of its time. In speaking of his experiment, Von Helmont says : • 
"I took an earthen vessel in which I put two hundred pounds of soil, 



•Russell's Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. 

151 



152 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

dried in an oven, then I moistened with rain water and pressed hard 
into it a shoot of willow weighing five pounds. After exactly five 
years, the tree that had grown up weighed 169 pounds and about 
three ounces. But the vessel had never received anything but rain 
water or distilled water to moisten the soil, when this was necessary, 
and it remained full of soil which was still tightly packed, and lest 
any dust from outside should get into the soil, it was covered with a 
sheet of iron coated with tin, but perforated with many holes. I did 
not take the weight of the leaves that fell in the autumn. In the end 
I dried the soil once more and got the same two hundred pounds that 
I started with, less about two ounces. Therefore, the 164 pounds of 
wood, bark and root, arose from the water alone." A notable con- 
tribution, but only a part of the truth was found. 

Glauber believed that "saltpeter" contained these important 
"principles." Kulbel was convinced of their presence in "humus." 
Along about the middle of the sixteenth century, Tull wrote interest- 
ingly of how plants feed. "It is agreed," he wrote, "that all the fol- 
lowing materials contribute in some manner to the increase of plants, 
but it is disputed which of them is that very increase of food : ( 1 ) 
Niter, (2) Water, (3) Air, (4) Fire, (5) Earth." "Altho niter, 
water, air, and fire and heat aid plants in growing, the earth is the 
real food and increase of plants; niter and other salts prepare the 
earth by dividing its particles, as a knife is to cut and prepare the 
food ; water and air move it, and by carr5ang and fermenting it in the 
juices of the plant to produce heat. Too much niter corrodes a plant, 
too much water drowns it, too much air dries the roots, too much 
heat burns it; but too much earth a plant can never have, unless it 
be therein wholly covered up." Tull's work closes the period known 
as the epoch of a search for the "principle of vegetation." 

Early Efforts to Ascertain "Plant Nutrients" 

According to Russel, the year 1750 marks the beginning of the 
epoch regarded as a search for "plant nutrients." It was about 1755 
when Home was set to work by the Edinburg Society "to try how 
far chemistry will go in settling the principles of agriculture." Home 
seemed to think that the whole art of agriculture centered in the 
"nourishing of plants." His chief contribution to plant culture was 
the emphasis he placed on a study of the function of "plant nutrients." 

Priestley, in 1771, pointed to the fact "that plants instead of af- 
fecting the air in the same manner as animal respiration, reverse the 
effects of breathing and tend to keep the atmosphere pure and whole- 



CROP PRODUCTION 153 

some, when it is become noxious in consequence of animals either liv- 
ing, or breathing, or djdng, and putrefying in it." Upon the observa- 
tions just cited, coupled with Priestley's discovery of oxygen, is based 
one of the most important principles of plant physiology. 

Up to about 1800, studies were largely of a qualitative nature, 
but the work of DeSaussure on quantitative gaseous exchange in 
plants laid the foundation for work now included in the modern 
period of plant investigations. DeSaussure, however, viewed his studies 
largely from the chemical aspect. 

Early in the eighteenth century, Liebig referred to the work up 
to his time as being of a nature "fitted only to awake pity." Liebig 
announced that "the crops on a field diminish or increase in exact pro- 
portion to the diminution or increase of the substances conveyed to it 
in manure." The fundamental truths that he contributed marked the 
beginning of a new era and he prepared the world for the splendid 
progress that followed. 

About the time Liebig was startling the world with his theories, 
was born Von Sachs, who was later to be known as favorably in the 
field of botany as was Liebig in the science of chemistry. In April, 
1859, Sachs was called by Professor Stockhardt to the Experiment Sta- 
tion at Tharand to perfect and extend his researches on the water 
(nutrient solution) method, and to direct the work of the Experiment 
Station along lines of experimental plant physiology. Later at the 
Agricultural Academy at Bonn, Poppelsdorf, he gave us the now 
classic contributions on germination, material transportation, and 
translocation ; and thus laid broad and deep the foundations for an ex- 
perimental study of plant nutrition. His chief interest in botany 
seemed to be in its application to agriculture. It is to be regretted 
that botany and agriculture alike failed to follow his leadership in the 
application of plant physiology to agriculture. The intimate and 
definite relation between the two fields so well recognized by Stock- 
hardt and so masterfully developed by Sachs was all but broken with 
the latter's passing. A field so auspiciously developed has been allowed 
to lie fallow for more than half a century. 

The Need For Botany in a Study of Crop Problems 

Just why botanists of the immediate past have overlooked such an 
opportunity for service is not clear, "What is the matter with 
botany?" is a favorite question nowadaj^s. Piper suggests that "in- 
tellectual isolation" is one cause of this indifference. Probably "pro- 
vincialism" is at the foundation of certain troubles. One writer be- 



154 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

lieves that a "feeling of superiority" is a contributing factor to such a 
certain lack of interest in crops problems on the part of some botanists. 
Perhaps it is not impertinent to ask the question, "What is the matter 
with agronomists specializing in crop production?" If the botanists 
are somewhat at fault, so are the agronomists. Good botanical train- 
ing has been available to them, but few have sought such equipment 
as botany can give. It must be admitted that both groups are at fault, 
and as a result, fundamental investigations in crops are few and are 
progressing slowly. We are almost at a standstill. We seem to be 
yet in the variety testing stage — in the "cut and try" epoch. 

The contributions of chemistry have been so numerous and im- 
portant that this has been referred to as the chemical age. The ap- 
plications furnished agriculture are fundamentally important and are 
recognized as such, but we believe chemistry cannot solve our crop 
production problems unaided. It appears now that a newer plant 
physiology, quantitative in nature, is destined to enter the field of 
action along with chemistry, and from this combination much is to be 
expected. 

In Illinois live two corn breeders of national reputation. I 
might, without the feeling of contradiction, say international reputa- 
tion. Only a fortnight ago, the older of them was heard to say, "I 
have studied corn breeding for thirty years and I am only in the 
A-B-C class." The other has remarked that "after nine years of pa- 
tient endeavor, I have little to say because my results seem to be so 
difficult of interpretation." These statements lead us to the firm 
belief that the trouble lies in the fact that our botanical truths are 
not sufficient to furnish a foundation on which to build breeding op- 
erations. 

If agronomy is to occupy the important station is should, it must 
ally itself to the science that is basic in the interpretation of plant 
function; namely, plant physiology. By establishing the closest re- 
lationship among the intricate and basic problems concerning the in- 
fluence of the agricultural environment on plant functions, and 
through these on crop production, much will be accomplished. 

What Are Some of the Basic Problems of Crop Production? 

So far as crop production is concerned, what are some of its basic 
problems? What contributions can plant physiology make? 

Before attempting to answer these questions, it will be well to 
study briefly the general agricultural features of our state. From 
north to south, the length of the state is 385 miles, which means, of 



CROP PRODUCTION 155 

course, great variation in the climate of the respective sections. 
Northern Ilh'nois receives an annual rainfall of less than thirty-five 
inches, while the southern third of the state receives from forty to 
fifty inches. Temperature variations for these areas are even more 
striking than rainfall differences, and result in a marked change in 
the length of the crop-growing seasons. At Fairfield corn may be 
planted during the last days of April, while at DeKalb, May 18 is 
the earliest date at which it can safely be planted. 

The soil survey, which is more than three-fourths completed, 
shows how great a variation we have in our soil types. To date, 
about one hundred and twenty-three types have been recorded. Such 
extremes of soil type indicate clearly the complex nature of the crop- 
production problem with which we have to deal. With such great 
variation in soil type and climate as we have in Illinois, is it any 
wonder that a man who is a successful farmer in southern Illinois 
might be a failure in northern Illinois? 

A satisfactory solution of crop-production studies in Illinois must 
be founded on a full knowledge of the soil and what is taking place in 
it, as well as a complete understanding of the influence of climate and 
the inter-relationship of these great factors as they affect plant growth. 
Much has been done looking toward a proper solution of the soil prob- 
lem, tho many vital questions remain unsolved. It will be some time 
before plant studies have overtaken soil investigations, because the 
former field remains largely untouched. 

Again, what are the outstanding problems which should be 
attacked first? It seems to me that the fundamental crop problem 
is "adaptation." If this is granted, what is the method of attack? 
We believe the approach must be made through a study of plant 
physiology. "The aim of plant physiology" as stated by the great 
botanist Palladin, "is to gain a complete and thoro knowledge of all 
the phenomena occurring in plants, to analyze the complex life pro- 
cesses so as to interpret them in terms of simple ones and to reduce 
them finally to principles of physics and chemistry." 

Little is now known of the sensitive or critical period in crop 
plants in relation to environmental factors such as moisture, tempera- 
ture, and light, as viewed from the physiological aspect, more partic- 
ularly in its application to field conditions. The basis of attack, then, 
must be the study of the relationship of environmental factors to the 
various life stages of crop plants. These life stages or physiologic 
phases may be grouped as follows : ( 1 ) the seed stage ; (2) the germ- 



156 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

inative stage ; (3 ) the plantlet stage ; (4) the active growth or vegeta- 
tive stage; (5) the reproductive stage. 

A thoro knowledge of the physiological behavior of farm crops 
must include a knowledge of the life stages, each in relation to the 
several factors of environment. When we have such information it 
is not diffi;Cult to determine the critical phase or period. We are con- 
vinced that a clear understanding of the critical period is necessary be- 
fore we can proceed far in crop-adaptation studies. 

A few typical questions will add emphasis to the suggestion made 
above. These questions are not made-up questions; they actually 
have been asked by Illinois farmers during the last twelve months: 

1. One variety of wheat, corn or oats is better than an- 
other, Whyf 

2. If this variety lodges worse than another, Whyf 

3. If early seeding of spring w^heat is best, Whyf 

4. This year we have scab, next year none, Whyf 

5. Wheat winterkills, Whyf 

6. Soft wheat for southern Illinois, Why? 

7. Bearded wheat for northern Illinois and smooth for south- 
ern, Whyf 

8. Today I plant corn, tomorrow I plant from the same bag, 
and from today's planting I get a stand, from tomorrow's planting a 
poor stand of puny corn, Whyf 

Truly a new day is dawning in Illinois agriculture. The man on 
the land is once again facing the east, with always in the forefront the 
eternal question, Whyf It seems clear that the agronomist has come 
to realize his position and he now resolutely acknowledges the basic 
question, Whyf 

What Is Being Done Toward Solving These Problems? 

If there is a new day in plant agriculture in Illinois, the question 
arises in your mind, what is being done looking to the solution of 
these important questions, and we feel that it is only fair that some 
notion be given as to what progress is being made. 

Last September, Dr. Charles F. Hottes, who is recognized as a 
master in his field, consented to become consulting physiologist to the 
Department of Agronomy. In his laboratory, without doubt one of 
the best in the country, tho needing much additional equipment, the 
investigations of several basic problems are under way; and it should 
be added that these same problems are being studied simultaneously 
on the crop experiment fields. 



CROP PRODUCTION 157 

Illinois is one of the two leading corn-producing states of the 
world, with an annual .total yield of more than 355,000,000 bushels. 
Since corn is our great staple, it is natural that our most extensive 
studies should center in its physiological behavior. Strange as it may 
seem, there has been little investigational work on corn to determine 
the normal requirements of the crop. It is doubtful if we can find 
data which show the best temperature for the germination test of corn. 
Seed corn should always be germinated before being planted in the 
field. What is the most desirable temperature for this operation? 
Should the temperature be 75° or 85°, and what influence will the 
temperature relationships have on the accuracy of the results? Certain 
we are of the fact that very little is known of the temperature re- 
quirements of the plant in its several life stages. Through the whole 
literature on corn, you may search for this kind of information, with 
little or no success. 

Just as the physician understands the human body, so must the 
agronomist understand the plant body. If we are to understand the 
abnormal, or the plant in sickness, so must we understand the healthy 
or normal, because it is on the normal behavior that our recommenda- 
tions for management are based. 

Much has been written about the selection and storage of seed 
corn, but we find nowhere in literature data on which to make a safe 
recommendation. At what temperature should seed corn be stored 
for the maintenance of maximum germination and vigor? When 
seed corn is brought in from the field, how rapidly should it be dried 
and at what temperature? What temperature and moisture content 
should be maintained throughout the winter months? A line of 
work now under way shows clearly that there is danger of reducing 
too much the moisture content of seed corn. Corn dried to six per 
cent moisture previous to storage was slower in absorbing water and 
more tardy in germination than similar corn stored when it contained 
twice the quantity of water. The total percentage germination was 
lower and the vigor of the young plants was slightly less in the low- 
moisture corn. On the other hand, another lot of the same corn 
which contained nineteen per cent water when it was stored did not 
do so well as the dry corn, even tho the processes of germination were 
more rapid. This indicates that the proper quantity of moisture for 
retaining vigor of seed corn in storage is nearer twelve per cent than 
either six or nineteen. In other words, the best quantity of water 
in corn to permit the proper amount of physiological activity in the 
seed to insure the nourishment of the young plantlet and keep it at 
its best, is about twelve per cent. 



158 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

What is the best moisture content for corn at planting? More 
than a year ago, Mr. Frank I. Mann raised the last question and sug- 
gested its importance. No doubt his experience has taught him that 
corn plants which begin their growth under most favorable conditions 
are ordinarily superior to those from the same kind of seed, but germi- 
nating and making their initial growth under less favorable conditions. 
Preliminary studies indicate that soaking seed corn in water previous 
to planting is a method of hastening germination, thereby giving the 
plant an earlier start than otherwise would be the case. This pre- 
liminary soaking has resulted in an increase in the yield where the 
crop was planted late. However, the length of time the kernels arc 
soaked determine whether the result will be an increase or a decrease 
in production. Soaking for periods less than twenty-four hours is 
favorable to growth, whereas, soaking for a longer time either is not 
beneficial or is detrimental. In addition to duration of soaking, there 
are some indications that the benefit to be derived from this practise 
is vitally dependent upon the time of planting and the moisture of the 
soil when the planting is done. These are typical of the problems now 
in progress dealing with the seed stage of the corn plant. 

A sister institution states that corn for seed may be gathered in 
the milk. Seed thus selected will germinate, but it is an easy prey for 
fungi, and in most instances the plants would never appear above 
ground. It has been clearly demonstrated that thoroly mature corn 
is best for seed, because fully matured seed possesses powers of re- 
sistance. Disease organisms may be present but they are unable to 
get a hold on the strong, healthy grain, while the early selected seed 
would be converted to a mouldy mass by the end of the third day after 
being put in the germination test. 

In field practise, what should be the temperature and moisture 
content of the soil to give the little corn plant a rapid start? The 
problems with the plantlet are of the same sort as those having to da 
with the germination stage. An important study has just been con- 
cluded by the Agronomy Department, and the material prepared for 
publication, on the relation of early vigor of the corn plant to yield. 
This problem concerns itself with the plantlet stage primarily. 

The Station has data covering twelve years of work on the fre- 
quency of the cultivation of corn. It is impossible to interpret these 
figures because we know so little regarding the nutrition cycle of corn. 
If cultivation assists in nitrate production, is the cultivation performed 
at such a time and under such conditions as will render these nitrates 
available at the time needed by the growing plant? The growing 
plant undergoes rapid changes in its nutrient requirements and reacts 



CROP PRODUCTION 159 

in its several growth phases in widely different manners. The 
nutrient element required today may not be liberated until tomorrow ; 
and the stimulations making for increased growth and reproduction 
one day, may under apparently the same conditions lead to decreased 
production. Investigations on the rots of corn which are being con- 
ducted in this state are attracting the attention of corn growers every- 
where. Two examples from this work will give additional proof as 
to how plant physiology lies at the very foundation of such studies. 

Researches conducted by James G. Dickson, at the University of 
Wisconsin, point to a relatively high optimum temperature for the 
growth and sporulation of wheat scab and corn rot organisms, Gib- 
berella saubinetii. When this fungus is inoculated on to corn and 
wheat seedlings, the maximum development occurs at widely different 
temperatures. On wheat growing under greenhouse conditions, the 
fungus behaves as we would normally expect it to ; its growth is most 
rapid and the greatest injury is caused to the host when the tempera- 
ture is high. When grown on corn, practically the reverse is true. 
The greatest growth of fungus and the least growth of the young corn 
plants takes place under relatively low temperature environment. This 
would suggest the desirability of planting corn late in the season when 
the temperature is high. However, some Illinois experiments with 
diseased corn show that when corn planting is delayed the severity of 
the disease is increased, the yield reduced, and the quality of grain 
lowered. Thus it is manifest that two organisms that have similar 
optimum temperature requirements when grown alone, may have 
widely different requirements for their best growth when one is 
allowed to parasitize the other. Also when any one of the controlled 
standard conditions is changed, the relationship of the host and parasite 
is affected. In other words, there seems to exist in nature a state of 
equilibrium between plants and the various factors which make up 
their environment. When any one or more of these are altered, the 
others are affected and the equilibrium is changed accordingly. 

Further, our corn-rot investigations bring sharply to mind the 
problem of disease resistance and immunity. One instance will suffice 
to bring this point clearly before us. We have two lots of corn, one 
lot very much like the other, and when planted on clean land the 
yields are about the same, but when planted on infested land the yield 
of one was reduced about fifty-two per cent and the other only about 
two per cent. Why this great difference? We naturally ask our- 
selves. What is disease resistance and what is immunity to disease? 

Such problems are typical of studies in the physiological behavior 
of different kinds of strains or varieties of corn, and upon such studies 



160 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

must be based sound field practises. Answers to such questions will 
give us the key to the crop-adaptation puzzle. 

Wheat is our most important small grain ; therefore it is fitting 
that some time be given to the underlying principles of its management. 
Turkey Red is the most widely grown of winter wheats. It is a 
leading wheat for Central Illinois. Our winters are rarely ever 
severe enough to injure the crop. Red Rock, a much heralded wheat 
from Michigan, winter-kills about one-half the time. Why this 
difference in adaptation to climate? At this date, an effort is being 
made to determine the best moisture and temperature relationship at 
time of germination, since this is believed to be of large significance 
in determining how varieties differ. 

The Station has five years of work on the time of seeding spring 
wheat. The yield from the early March seeding is about twenty 
bushels, the April seeding is twenty-two bushels per acre. Is it be- 
cause these spring wheats develop greater vigor by being seeded early, 
thus at low temperature ? Or is it that the crop seeded early develops 
its flowers early, thereby avoiding the influence of the hot weather 
of late June or early July ? We believe it is the former, and not the 
latter, as we used to believe. Marquis Spring Wheat is a most sat- 
isfactory wheat for DeKalb, 125 miles north of here. Illmois No. I 
leads Marquis at Urbana by six bushels per acre. It has been found 
that Marquis germinates at a lower temperature than Illinois No. I. 
Here is a suggestion that one fundamental difference is in the tem- 
perature best for germination, a fact which suggests why Marquis is 
best for northern Illinois and Illinois No. I is best for central Illinois. 

All of these problems aim at an understanding of the normal life 
cycle of the crops studied, an understanding of which is necessary be- 
fore an accurate determination of the adaptability of any crop can 
be made. 

I feel confident that the outline presented above points to an 
affirmative answer to President Kinley's question, "Is there any sys- 
tem which might be adopted whereby the adaptation of different crops 
to different soils may be more accurately determined, and the use of 
proper crops on soils be insured?" I believe this plan will give to 
this great agricultural state a system of crop production that shall re- 
flect credit upon the institution initiating it, and will add increased 
wealth and prosperity to the people of Illinois. 




ECONOMIC PHASES OF FARMING 

W. F. HandschiNj Professor of Farm Orffanizaiion and Management 
N DISCUSSING the economic phases of farming, the ques- 
tion of prices received for farm products and prices which 
must be paid by the farmer for the goods and services which 
he wishes to buy is of primary importance. It is important 
to pay somewhat special attention to the question of prices 
at this time because of the fact that all of our price rela- 
tionships have been entirely upset during the past five or six years. 
Unless we analyze the situation with some care we are likely to mis- 
take an emergency, even tho a somewhat prolonged emergency, for the 
usual state of affairs. 

Readjustment of Prices 

The farmer is suffering just now, more than from any other 
cause, from a maladjustment of prices between his products and the 
products of other industries. To be sure, other factors have con- 
tributed to his difficulty, but the wide disparity between the price of 
farm products and the price of the goods and services which the 
farmer usually buys, constitutes in my judgment the principal cause of 
the farmer's present difficult situation. 

While farming has been practically the only important industry 
which has maintained normal production during the year 1921, the 
price of farm products has fallen, without a corresponding reduction 
of prices in other industries, to a point which leaves the farmer with 
scarcely more than seventy per cent of his pre-war purchasing power. 
This in turn has reacted on business in general through a reduction in 
the demand for the products of city industries, and has been one of 
the chief factors contributing to the widespread unemployment and 
general business depression which has obtained during the past twelve 
months. 

As a result of this maladjustment of prices between farming and 
other industries, we find ourselves in the anomalous position in which 
the manufacturer and merchandiser have been able to maintain sat- 
isfactory prices; and at the same time "business is rotten," profits are 
practically unknown, and prosperity is still just around the corner. 
The laboring man is still enjoying a good wage scale, in the main, but 
a third of his fellows are out of employment, many more are working 

161 



162 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

on reduced schedules ; and the total wage fund perhaps is reduced 
fully as much as is the farmer's income. 

I cannot, in this brief paper, take the time to enter upon a dis- 
cussion of what seem to be the chief causes of this contradictory state 
of affairs in our industrial life. It is significant, however, to note that 
practically all classes of men seem now to agree that before we can 
have anything like a return to normal business conditions, prices of 
all important commodities must at least approximate a common level. 

Whether this leveling of prices is to be brought about by raising 
the price of farm products, copper, rubber, sugar and other essential 
commodities which are substantially below the level of general prices ; 
or whether it is to be brought about by scaling down the price of other 
products to the price level of the products mentioned, depends largely 
upon whose opinion is sought. The farmer wants higher prices and, 
for once, nearly everyone seems to be agreed that he should have what 
he wants. All seem to be in favor of the plan. Except for the fact 
that it does not work it seems to be entirely satisfactory. 

The farmer would no doubt, as a matter of first choice, have his 
prices boosted to the level of industrial prices and wages. If he can- 
not have this, he wants lower prices for the things which he desires 
to buy. In this, however, he seems as yet to have enlisted only partial 
cooperation from manufacturers, merchandisers and wage earners. 
Meanwhile he sits tight, reduces his expenditures to the minimum, in 
the main because he has little to spend after paying interest, rent, 
taxes, wages and meeting other necessary expenses. He waits, because 
he must, for the steady but unrelenting economic pressure in the situa- 
tion to teach other industries that only normal production of goods 
made on wages and sold at prices that will move them into consump- 
tion can bring general prosperity, and that much-to-be-desired state 
which President Harding calls normalcy. 

If we agree that prices must reach a common level before we can 
have general prosperity, — a doctrine which seems now to be somewhat 
generally accepted, — it is highly important that we try to estimate as 
accurately as possible whether farm prices will go up, whether other 
prices will come down, or whether these two sets of prices will meet 
at some point between their present levels. 

In attempting to predict what will probably happen to prices, I 
can take the time to set down only a few of what seem to be the more 
important facts bearing on the problem. We know, for example, 
that the production of the cereal grains in the United States has been 
considerably above normal during the past three years. Three sue- 



ECONOMIC PHASES 163 

cessive favorable seasons and high yields have given us the largest 
production of corn during 1919, 1920, and 1921 of any three-year 
period in our history. The present corn surplus is the largest on 
record. Since corn is the basis of our meat making industry we can 
scarcely expect any great increase in live-stock prices in the near 
future, altho we may logically expect the price of corn to approximate 
the level of live-stock prices before many months have passed. While 
the price of wheat is considerably below the level of general com- 
modity prices, it is substantially above the pre-war figure and some- 
what above the level of general farm prices. This is no doubt due to 
the very considerable exports of wheat made during 1921. 

We know also that as long as we do not have general prosperity, 
the consumption of farm products in the United States must of neces- 
sity be below normal. Europe is now, and must remain for a long 
time, on a subnormal basis of consumption with reference to farm 
products. In view of these facts, he is an optimist indeed who can 
see any great prospect for a recovery in the price of farm products 
within the next twelve months. 

If prices must reach a common level, and the prices of farm 
products offer no prospect of substantial early recovery, it does not 
require more than one shrewd guess as to what must happen to 
prices. One and only one conclusion remains ; the price of goods 
made by the city industries must come down. It is only a question 
of how long we wish to defer the return to a reasonable measure 
of prosperity. This conclusion in fact offers the first, and in my 
judgment, the most important measure of early relief to the farmer 
in his present difficult situation. 

This price problem, which just now confronts the farmer in 
somewhat acute form, is a good example of the kind of question in 
which the farmer must be continually exercising his individual business 
judgment. Obviously, he cannot himself assemble the information 
necessary to making such judgments intelligently. He must depend 
upon federal, state, or private institutions to supply him with basic 
information in this field. The price studies made during the past two 
or three years by the U. S. Bureau of Labor, by the College of Agri- 
culture of Cornell University, and by other agencies, public and 
private, are good examples of the kind of service which the Agricul- 
tural College and Experiment Station should render in increasing 
measure in the future. Without such information, both the individual 
farmer and his organization will be working largely in the dark in 
attempting to solve many of their economic conditions. 



164 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Collective Marketing of Farm Products 

The farmer has long felt that he should have better facilities for 
marketing his crops and animals. Because of the violent decline in 
the price of farm products experienced during the past year he seems 
to have become more fully convinced that our present system of 
marketing is hopelessly inadequate. At the present time one or more 
farmers' organizations are developing plans for the collective market- 
ing of nearly every one of our staple farm crops in one or more im- 
portant producing areas. All of this is being done in large measure 
without the basic information necessary to the development of plans 
which shall conform in their essentials to good economic procedure 
and sound business practise. Without such information, we must 
learn largely by our own experience, which is usually both expensive 
and hazardous, instead of being able to profit by the experience of 
other undertakings subject to the same economic laws and principles. 

We hear much these days, for example, regarding the orderly 
marketing of farm crops. By this is meant, as I understand it, that 
the farmer shall endeavor to market his crops as they are required for 
consumption. Since the consumption of nearly all of our important 
farm crops is surprizingly uniform throughout the twelve months of 
the year, the farmer would have to market approximately one-twelfth 
of his crops each month in the year. Reduced to its simplest terms, 
in the abstract, this would mean that the farmer, rather than some- 
one else, should carry his crops until the time when they are required 
for consumption. 

In actual practise the problem must be far less simple. Someone 
must first determine how much of the crop there is on hand. How 
much of it is to be marketed. How much would probably be con- 
sumed at different prices, and what prices will have to be named to 
move all of the crop into consumption during the year, allowing of 
course for the normal carry-over. In order that one-twelfth of the 
crop shall move into consumption during each month of the year, it 
would no doubt be necessary to pool all, or practically all, of the crop 
to be marketed and pro-rate the monthly price to all of the consignors 
to the pool. 

In connection with this problem I cannot help but point out the 
danger of carrying over large surpluses from one year to another, in 
the hope that subsequent reduced production will make possible the 
absorption of such surpluses. The most obvious fact should be that 
the very act of somewhat artificially maintaining prices by withholding 
a part of the crop from the market would tend to increase rather than 



ECONOMIC PHASES 165 

to reduce production; and, one year with another, would tend to in- 
crease rather than to reduce the size of the surplus. If any proof of 
this thesis is required, we need only cite the experience in sugar, rubber, 
tobacco, copper, and several other essential products, the surplus of 
which has been increased in most cases to unprecedented amounts, by 
means of a stimulating price and a tendency to hoard the products for 
a still higher price. The same thing happened in the case of a variety 
of manufactured products as well as in the raw materials mentioned. 

Until recently, it was somewhat generally supposed by those in- 
terested in the collective marketing of farm products, that the prin- 
cipal steps in the successful conduct of such activities were integration, 
standardization, warehousing, transportation, and similar processes 
having to do with the physical handling of the commodities. We see 
now that these essential steps in the processes dealing with the physical 
goods are in themselves relatively simple, and that the real marketing 
problem deals with such questions as the influence of supply and de- 
mand on price ; and, no less important, the influence of price on supply 
and demand. We have also come to appreciate that the problem of 
handling the physical goods is relatively simple as compared with the 
problem of financing the marketing of such goods. My point is not 
that the farmer cannot through collective effort improve the present 
marketing systems, but merely that we have not made any adequate 
study of the economic principles underlying the process of marketing 
farm products. We have dealt too much in general terms such as or- 
derly marketing, cooperative marketing, costs of distribution, reason- 
able price, and a variety of other terms, which we use fluently, without 
bringing them under careful economic analysis in order to see what 
they really mean when subjected to the test of practical application. 

In the problem of meeting the farmers' credit needs the question 
is being raised whether either the Federal Reserve System, a system 
based on deposit banking; or the Federal Farm Loan System, a 
system based on long time bond investments, can offer the farmer the 
kind of credit facilities which his production and marketing operations 
require. We know that the Federal Reserve System was designed 
primarily to meet short-time credit needs; that is, for ninety days 
or less. The Federal Farm Loan System was designed to meet the 
needs for mortgage credit extending over periods of five to thirty-five 
years. As compared with these facilities, certain of the farmer's credit 
needs require that his loans be carried from six to twelve months, or 
even longer. Many believe that we need still a third or intermediate 
type of credit, designed to meet certain peculiar needs of the farmer 



166 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

in so far as they cannot be satisfactorily met by the two existing 
agencies. 

These are merely illustrations of the kind of questions confronting 
the farmer and his organizations in their efforts to solve some of 
their economic problems. They indicate the need for a more thoro- 
going and comprehensive program of research in the field of agri- 
cultural economics. In such a program the Agricultural College and 
Experiment Station should have a large part. 

Farming a Business of Small Units 

While one of the most obvious facts about farming is that it is 
a business of small units, the real significance of this fact is only 
partially understood. Because farming is a business of small units, 
and because of the public importance of its efficient development as 
an industry, practically all modern nations have made some effort 
to subsidize research activities in the interest of developing the more 
important scientific facts underlying the business. The agricultural 
experiment station is the result of this development in the United 
States. It would be plainly impossible for the individual farmer to 
work out the facts and principles which have been developed by these 
publicly supported institutions. 

It would be almost equally impossible for many individual 
farmers to avail themselves of the information developed by the 
experiment station. To insure the more complete dissemination, and 
introduction into actual farm practise, of this information we have 
established the publicly subsidized Agricultural Extension Service 
and the County Farm Adviser working in cooperation with the 
County Farm Bureau. 

One of the principal reasons for the formation of cooperative 
and other collective farmers' organizations is the fact that the indi- 
vidual farmer, representing a small business unit, cannot deal on the 
basis of equal advantage with the larger organized groups with which 
he must do business at many points. In matters of legislation, rate- 
making, taxation, and collective bargaining the individual farmer 
must be largely ineffective. Collectively he develops strength to deal 
on a somewhat more nearly equal basis with other organized groups. 

Whether this collective organization is to be of permanent value 
to the farmer depends upon how he uses this newly acquired power. 
If he uses it in his own interest, he may benefit largely by it only in 
so far as his use of it does not conflict with the public interest. If he 
goes beyond this point, in price enforcement, legislation, rate-making. 



ECONOMIC PHASES 167 

taxation and other lines, both he and the public are certain to suffer 
as a result. Here indeed lies great opportunity for fine discrimina- 
tion in making all-important judgments on the part of farmers' 
organizations. It will require both comprehensive information and 
a high order of moral responsibility to make such decisions wisely. 

Because farming is a business of small units, more than one-half 
of all the people employed in the entire industry must be possessed 
of a degree of management skill adequate to assuming the sole 
responsibility for the success of the business. This places a peculiar 
handicap on farming as compared with many other industries. In 
most of the manufacturing industries not more than one person in 
five or six is required to take direct responsibility for other workers 
or for the making of dividends. The inevitable result is that the 
management skill employed in farming must in general be of a lower 
grade than that employed in the large-scale industries. 

If in the future we are to continue to have small farms, efficiently 
operated, we need to make every reasonable effort to maintain and 
improve the management skill of our farm operators. This is already 
being done in very large measure through our general educational 
program in the state colleges of agriculture and in the secondary 
schools. The extension agencies, developed mainly during the past 
ten years, have already made a splendid contribution to the improve- 
ment of management methods particularly in the technical processes 
relating to production. The combined influence of resident teaching 
in our colleges and secondary schools, and the extension work carried 
on with actual farmers on their own farms, should go a long way 
toward offsetting the handicap in management skill imposed upon the 
farmer. 

Standardized Systems of Farming 

I believe we should go even farther than this. I believe the 
experiment stations, through investigation of the most successful farms 
in the various agricultural regions and through their other lines of 
research, should be able in the relatively near future to make a be- 
ginning in the development of somewhat standardized systems of 
farming for each of the more important type-of-farming areas. I 
appreciate fully that such systems would have to be made flexible 
enough to meet the needs of individual conditions. However, where 
soil types are fairly uniform and the conditions of climate, topography, 
markets, and transportation facilities are in the main the same, there 
must be at any given time a best system of farming which can be 



168 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

defined within somewhat narrow limits, if we but have the basic 
information. I recognize also that the individual qualifications and 
personal preference of the farmer and his family must be considered 
in the problem. 

If it is true, however, as all studies go to show, that any given 
region can never grow successfully more than three or four staple 
crops, it must follow that the farmer has after all little economic 
choice as to what he will grow. To be sure, he may vary, to some 
extent, the proportions of the crops grown. But unless these crops 
rank practically the same from the standpoint of relative profitable- 
ness, he again has little choice. In any event, he must grow a some- 
what balanced acreage of the crops included in his rotation, in order 
to secure good distribution of labor, the control of insect and disease 
pests, and a fair measure of insurance against crop failure or 
unfavorable prices for any one crop. 

In the production of animals he has a somewhat wider range 
of choice than is the case with crops, since animals in general enjoy 
a somewhat wider range of adaptation than plants. Here too, how- 
ever, he must soon be limited by the relative profitableness of different 
animal enterprises. 

Once we get the basic facts, showing just what combinations 
of crop and animal enterprises are best adapted to a given region, we 
must recognize, I believe, that any considerable deviation from this 
combination will of necessity prove to be a handicap in making the 
maximum economic return. In fact many of these systems are already 
in some measure developed in the various regions. We need only to 
find them, determine the essentials of their organization on the basis 
of careful accounting analysis, and combine the fundamentals of 
successful management practise for the region into a somewhat 
standardized working plan. 

I realize that all of this is difficult, in the minds of many im- 
possible. My only reason for seriously discussing it in this company 
is that if we are to continue to produce food for our constantly 
increasing population at a price which they can pay, and at which we 
can still make a profit on the enterprise, we must introduce into 
more common practise a high degree of productivity on our farms and 
we must secure this productivity at the smallest possible cost. The 
realization of this aim is of the greatest importance to the well-being 
of the individual farmer, as well as to society as a whole.\ 



ECONOMIC PHASES 169 

Land Problems 

In conclusion, I can only mention a few of the other problems, 
of first importance to the farmer, which the Agricultural College and 
Experiment Station should bring under investigation at the earliest 
possible date. 

The whole field of farm organization and operation needs to 
be brought under more careful and more comprehensive investiga- 
tion. Our land problems need to be more carefully studied. We 
need to have the facts regarding land ownership, tenancy, the best 
adjustments of the lease contract, and other phases of the tenure 
problem. We need to learn how far the farmer can afford to go in 
increasing the intensivity of production on our better lands before 
he will get decreased returns. We should have more information 
showing when we can afford to take up and develop our land areas 
not as yet included in farms or not yet improved. 

The whole question of land valuation is one of our most difficult 
problems. In spite of the fact that questions in the valuation of any 
form of property can never be answered with absolute accuracy, it is 
nevertheless important that the people who own our farm lands learn 
to evalute them more accurately from the standpoint of their actual 
economic return. A large part of the tendency to over-value farm 
lands in the United States during the past has been due to faulty 
accounting procedure in capitalizing too large a proportion of the 
gross income of such lands. The American farmer, and the corn- 
belt farmer in particular, has tended to use his surplus in raising the 
price of land rather than in raising the standard of living. 

These are some of the more important problems to which, in my 
judgment, the Agricultural College and Experiment Station should 
be attempting to make answer in dealing with the economic phases 
of farming in the next few years. 




THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE 

M. L. MosHER, President National Association of Farm Advisers, Eureka 

I HE Agricultural Extension Service is the name given to 
that part of the program for agricultural development 
which connects the individual farmer and his family w^ith 
the work of the state and national departments, institu- 
tions, and organizations which are working to make farm- 
ing more profitable and to insure the profitable operation 
of our farms in the future, so that here in America the generations to 
come may continue to have enough food to eat, enough clothes to wear, 
and comfortable houses for shelter. Another function of the Ex- 
tension Service is to carry to individual families on the farms informa- 
tion as to how the profits from farming — when there are profits — may 
be spent or invested so as to bring the most satisfaction to themselves, 
to their children, their neighbors, and the Nation. 

The Development of the Extension Service 

The development of the Extension Service has been a very natural 
one. Fifty or sixty years ago, the agricultural colleges were organ- 
ized to teach the farm boys the science and the art of successful farm- 
ing. The teachers soon learned that they did not have the necessary 
facts with which to teach ; so about thirty or forty years ago the state 
experiment stations were organized. Gradually the people out on the 
farms became interested in getting more and more of the accumulated 
information, and fifteen or twenty years ago an extension service was 
instituted in order to carry such information to the farms. The 
leaders of the movement soon adopted the plan of placing a representa- 
tive of the agricultural departments and institutions, known as a 
"county agent" or "farm adviser," in each agricultural county in 
order that he might live among the people and maintain a close per- 
sonal connection between the farm family and the colleges and the de- 
partments of agriculture. 

The formation of the organizations now known as county Farm 
Bureaus, through which the farm adviser might function and by which 
the payment of the expenses of maintaining the work might be in- 
sured, naturally followed the coming of the farm advisers. The 
federation of these county Farm Bureaus into state organizations, and 
of the state federations into the American Farm Bureau Federation, 
was a very natural development. The state and national federations 

170 



THE EXTENSION SERVICE 171 

are primarily representative and promotional organizations, through 
which farm people may be represented before legislative assemblies and 
in conferences with other organized business interests; and by which 
economic laws affecting the business of farming may be studied, and 
the development of cooperative and private enterprises which will 
work for the good of farm people and of all the people, may be pro- 
moted. 

In this connection, after nearly ten years of service as farm ad- 
viser in two corn-belt states, during which time I have myself done 
some buying and selling for Farm Bureau members, it is my firm con- 
viction that it is a mistake for the Farm Bureau as such to enter into 
purely merchandising enterprises, where the object is to save money 
rather than to do the work as a necessary part of a program 
planned to build up a permanent agriculture. It is a mistake also to 
use Farm Bureau membership fees as working capital in any buying 
and selling enterprise; in any purchasing done for the Farm Bureau 
members, the selling price should be enough above the cost to pay the 
overhead expense. In other words, the Farm Bureau membership 
fees should be used to maintain educational and promotional work for 
the members and not to pay the overhead of business enterprises. 
Neither should the time of the farm adviser be taken from what I 
would call the legitimate work of the Extension Service and of the 
Farm Bureau. 

In considering the future of the Extension Service, three de- 
veloping conditions may well be brought to your attention. 

Potential Leaders on Our Farms 

During the past quarter of a century several forces have been 
at work which have gradually developed a vast army of potential 
leaders on the farms of Illinois. Hundreds of graduates of the Col- 
lege of Agriculture are now on the farms. Six years ago, when Farm 
Bureau work was begun in Woodford county, there were only two 
or three men on the farms of the county who were graduates of agri- 
cultural colleges, whereas now there are ten or a dozen of them. 
One is president of the Farm Bureau, and one who had two years 
of college work is president of the county farmers' institute. A home 
economics graduate is president of the women's division of the 
farmers' institute. 

The winter short courses have been the means of inspiring other 
hundreds of men and women to study their work and to fit them- 
selves to take places of leadership in their communities. The Illinois 



172 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Farmers' Institute has been a tremendous force which has inspired 
thousands of farm people and helped to develop in them the qualities 
of leadership. The president of the Illinois Agricultural Association 
stated publicly a few days ago that he first became interested in organ- 
ized agricultural work when he was asked to assist the corn judge at 
a farmers' institute fifteen years ago. The Grange has helped in 
many localities to develop some of the sti'ongest leaders in the county 
and the state, as well as in the home communities. Chautauqua speak- 
ers have led many a farmer and his good wife, and many a boy and 
girl, to take a new and greater interest in farm life. These, with 
other forces, have developed leaders in nearly every community in 
the state. 

The development of the Farm Bureau, which, as has been pointed 
out, is primarily an extension organization, has been the means of 
bringing into activity a great number of these potential leaders. 5t 
has seemed to me during the past year that there is just now a rapid 
increase in the number of men and women who are taking their places 
as leaders in community, county, and state work. How this active 
and potential leadership may be utilized in the Extension Service of 
the near future will be considered later in connection with another 
condition which has gradually been developing. 

The Growing Appreciation of Specialists 

The same influences which have been at work developing the 
active and potential leadership in every community in Illinois have 
tended to create in the minds of the same people a respect for the 
work and the opinions of specialists. The college student who has 
come to realize, during a thoro course of study, the tremendous amount 
of labor and the thousands of soil tests made by Dr. Hopkins and 
his associates and successors, has a real regard for the statements of 
fact and of opinion by the soil specialists of the University of Illinois. 
The student of animal diseases who learns of the years of patient 
study and the thoro tests made by those men who discovered and 
developed the serum-virus preventive treatment for hog cholera will 
listen to or read with respect statements made by the same and other 
specialists regarding the control of other live-stock diseases, and he 
will not hesitate to follow those suggestions in his own farming 
operations. 

The short course student who learns that the score card for corn 
by which he is taught to select his seed is the condensed conclusion 
regarding the best size and shape and condition of kernels and ears 



THE EXTENSION SERVICE 173 

as determined by thousands of field trials in several corn-belt states, 
is not only ready to go home and select his own seed accordingly but 
he is also ready to accept other recommendations from recognized 
specialists regarding seed selection and along other lines. The farmer 
or his wife who, after attending a poultry culling demonstration put 
on by the farmers' institute or the Farm Bureau, selects his own flock 
of hens carefully and arranges his poultry house and provides the 
feed and care as suggested by the poultry specialist, to find later that 
his net income has been doubled and trebled, is ready to read with a 
responsive mind the statements of other specialists regarding other 
lines of work. 

Looking back over fifteen years of service in state and county 
extension work, I have a very definite feeling that there is now a 
rapidly developing belief in, and a growing demand for, the advice 
of specialists along all lines which have to do with the science and the 
economics of both farming and home making. 

A Growing Appreciation of the Practical Knowledge Gained 
BY Farm Experience 

During the recent rapid development of the Extension Service, 
extension workers have brought to the attention of the public so 
many instances of valuable practises that have been developed gradu- 
ally, through the years, on individual farms and in communities, that 
there is now a rapidly growing realization that some of the best 
lessons regarding the art of agriculture are to be learned out on the 
farms of the country. 

The announcement made this past year by the United States 
Department of Agriculture of the method of sanitary production of 
pork, known as the "McLean county system of swine sanitation," was 
preceded five years by the publication of the results of studies made 
by the Department of Farm Organization and Management of the 
University of Illinois, on the farms of pork producers in central 
Illinois. In these studies it was shown that the men who raised and 
fed their pigs on fresh legume pastures were able to produce pork for 
forty to sixty per cent less cost per pound than were those who kept 
their pigs in old dry-lots and small, long-used, blue-grass pastures. 
The difference was then attributed largely to the superior value of 
the green legume forage as a feed, but recent developments would 
indicate that much of the difference was doubtless due to the better 
sanitary conditions. But regardless of why those men were getting 
more economic returns for their capital and labor, the fact remains 



174 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

that the farm management studies showed how they were doing their 
work to increase their profits; and the Extension Service, farm 
papers and farmers' institute workers carried the story of their suc- 
cess to thousands of other farmers, many of whom profited by the 
example. About twenty years ago, out in Missouri, an unknown 
farmer split a log in two, made a sled of it and dragged it sideways 
up and down the road along his farm. His success in maintaining 
a serviceable road was noticed, and the King split-log drag became 
known throughout the country. Out of its use has been developed the 
patrol maintenance of dirt and gravel roads, which bids fair to 
revolutionize road-building methods in the corn belt. 

I hope that reference to work in which I have had a part will be 
pardoned. I will use it here because it illustrates this point so well. 
In the Woodford county corn test, in which seed corn submitted by 
one hundred and twenty men was planted in comparative field trials 
for three consecutive years, those men who had followed most 
closely the recent teachings of the utility seed corn specialists gradu- 
ally increased their corn yields until their seed was among the twenty 
per cent most productive. This shows the value of following the 
advice of specialists. It is also true, however, that the seed entered in 
the test by a few men who had been selecting seed for many years along 
lines developed by themselves, their fathers, and their grandfathers, 
far outclassed in yielding power that brought in by those other men. 
Two brothers about sixty years of age, who had learned forty years 
ago from their father how to select seed, and who had never attended 
a college, an institute, or a short course, had some of the highest 
yielding corn. The son of one of these men had one of the best lots 
of seed in the test. This test shows, therefore, that while we may 
well listen to the specialist, we may well watch, too, for those 
profitable practises which are often to be found out on the farms of 
men who have been doing things, intuitively perhaps, in a way that is 
superior to the plans suggested by the results of any scientific study 
which has yet been made. 

The Future of the Extension Service 

If these conditions, which have been pointed out as really to 
exist are facts, then they have a very definite bearing on the future ex- 
tension policy of our state. I believe that one of the most valuable 
functions of the Extension Service in the future will be to develop 
local leaders and give them work to do. Let us encourage those who 
have organizing ability, and help them to organize the community 



THE EXTENSION SERVICE 175 

club, the grange, the rural church, and the community school in order 
that they may render the great service which such community organ- 
izations elsewhere are rendering and may continue to render. Some 
can write. Let us help them to get together the facts being discovered 
by our investigators, and the records of successful practises that are 
being evolved on our farms, and encourage them to write articles and 
news notes for the local papers and the agricultural press. Some of 
the most effective writing being done today for the local and general 
press is that contributed by men and women on the farms. Some 
people are naturally good speakers. Let us use them. They are 
needed in all these local organizations, to furnish information con- 
cerning the scientific and economic principles which have to do with 
successful farm work and satisfying farm life, as well as to explain 
simple farm practises which will make farming more profitable and 
farm life more happy. 

I believe that in the future much more of the work of the county 
farm adviser could well be devoted to finding these potential leaders 
with their varying talents and helping them to organize for work. 
The collecting of facts and the putting of them into shape for these 
local leaders to use may well be a greater part of the farm adviser's 
work than it has been in the past. It may be hard for some of us who 
have been doing much of the organizing and writing and speaking to 
turn it over to others; but my best judgment tells me that he who suc- 
cessfully does that will multiply the effectiveness of the extension ser- 
vice in his county many times over. 

In my judgment the growing desire for the advise of specialists 
will call for the employment of more of them in our State Extension 
Service. With a clientele of from one thousand to three thousand 
farmers, each of whom expects specialized service of some kind, the 
farm adviser is utterly unable to render the satisfactory service which 
was possible when he was working with three or four hundred people. 
This great increase in the number of interested people, and their grow- 
ing belief in the specialist, make it imperative that more men and 
women trained along special lines be provided to go out into the 
counties and communities to carry to the receptive people the informa- 
tion which they desire. 

While I believe that the scientific study of soil problems, of the 
principles of plant and animal breeding, of economic laws, etc., will 
carry us further, years hence, than any one has yet gone, experiences 
of the past lead me to believe that there are men on the farms all over 
Illinois who have gone further, intuitively perhaps, along many lines 
than the most thoro scientific study has yet taken us. 



176 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

While I believe that a satisfactory program for agricultural de- 
velopment demands increased funds and more people to be devoted 
to the discovery of unknown scientific truths, I believe just as fully 
that the most efficient extension service in the near future will be that 
which provides for a more systematic study of farm practises than has 
been undertaken in the past, in order to find those which are worth 
disseminating. There should be strong currents of information com- 
ing in from the farms through a branch of the Extension Service, to 
our institutions of learning, where they may be summarized and vital- 
ized and sent out again through the Extension Service to thousands 
of other farmers throughout the state. 

In conclusion, let us picture in our minds a plan of extension 
service based on the developing conditions as here stated. The State 
Extension Service will continue to reach out over the state, through 
the county farm advisers, who will in the future more than in the 
past be county directors of agriculture, working for the interests of 
agriculture through the Extension Service of the University and 
through the Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau will confine its ac- 
tivities to educational, promotional, and representative work. As 
county director of agriculture, the farm adviser will devote his time 
more fully to the development and organization of local leaders and 
to bringing to his people the services of specialists along all lines. 

The State Extension Service will provide more and more spec- 
ialists along all lines affecting farm work and farm life, and will de- 
vote considerable necessary attention to maintaining the organization 
necessary to successfully carry the work of the specialists out through 
the counties and communities to the individual farm families. 

The county Farm Bureau and the county farm adviser will also 
be the means and the agents through which the Extension Service will 
operate to find and to draw in many new ideas and practises from the 
farms, and send them out to thousands of other people who are ready 
to receive and apply them. 




SOME NEXT STEPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT 

OF THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND 

EXPERIMENT STATION 

Eugene Davenport, Dean of the College of Agriculture 

HE original purpose of the Land Grant Act and its farseeing 
promoters was to provide a suitable education for farmers 
and "mechanics," as shopmen were then called. By a 
"suitable education" was meant not only information and 
training in the subjects directly related to agriculture and 
the mechanic arts, but also an education in the relation of 
industry to other professions in life, and of artisans to the body politic, 
this latter idea being specifically embodied in the phrase, "without 
excluding other scientific and classical studies." 

Instruction in the "other scientific and classical studies" proceeded 
successfully from the first, for neither the subject matter nor the 
method needed to be different from that adapted to the needs of other 
students. History has but one meaning to humanity, and that mean- 
ing is the same for the farmer and for the philosopher. The appeal 
of literature is as broad as the instincts of the race and the capacities 
of the individual and, outside of those who make literature a profes- 
sion, it is not influenced by occupation. The facts of nature are abid- 
ing truths, and while they may be put to different uses by different 
people of varied occupations, yet there is a vast body of knowledge 
common to all peoples and fundamental to all needs. 

Instruction in these fields of knowledge, therefore, encountered 
no special problems peculiar to their association with agriculture, but 
not so much could be said as to the technical subjects bearing directly 
upon the profession of farming. With the early attempts to teach 
the technical portion of an agricultural education, it became clearer 
with every passing year that farming had not yet risen above the 
status of an art and that an art which depends for its successful prac- 
tise upon so many and so varied local conditions as does farming is 
practically unteachable in college. 

The Coming of the Experiment Station 

Accordingly, in the late eighties the appeal was made to Congress 
for a supplementary act endowing agricultural research, in order that 
agencies might be provided for the discovery of something really 
tangible, to be elaborated into teaching form. So was the Experiment 

177 



178 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

Station established — not as an accessory but as a foundation in this 
newest attempt at education for the practical professions of life. So it 
was that research in agriculture was established in order to make 
successful teaching possible, its employment as a means of advancement 
for agriculture in general being a much later development. 

The broader view of agriculture as a national industry, and the 
use of research for its general advancement, did not occur to the 
minds of even the most advanced thinkers until about the opening of 
the present century, when the findings of science within the field of 
farming began to make it clear that research could do something more 
than explain to students why certain practises are successful. For a 
score of years now it has been clear that investigation and experimenta- 
tion, indeed the very broadest conception of research, is capable not 
only of explaining agricultural practise but also of rationalizing it 
and advancing it ; in other words, of developing the business and the 
life of farming, not only from the individual, but from the commu- 
nity, the state, and even the national point of view. 

Stated in terms of logic, this is the day of the inductive method. 
We are vastly concerned now about the many major premises with 
which we are doing business. We are not so credulous as were our 
ancestors. We have more tools to work with, more tests of supposed 
truths, and we realize more than they could realize the untoward con- 
sequences of proceeding upon false or inadequate assumptions. The 
fact is that we have only begun the vast undertaking of interrogating 
nature about this matter of agriculture, and to stop now or even 
slacken effort would be of all forms of folly the most foolish. If we 
be wise, therefore, we shall continue to prosecute our inquiries into 
the mysteries of agriculture and its relations, linking close together 
those three manifestations of the same service — research, teaching, 
and extension. And in doing that we shall, without abandoning any 
of the old methods of inquiry, make use of certain new tools of our 
trade lying ready to hand but hitherto not much employed. 

Chemistry has served us well ; indeed until almost the present 
day it has been about the only science that has been particularly fruit- 
ful of results along agricultural lines. We shall continue to use it, 
and it is no flight of fancy to predict that what has been found by the 
chemist in the past is but a tithe of what awaits his achievement in the 
future. But we must harness other agencies — physics, for example. 
Undoubtedly we feed the young mainly for body building, but we feed 
the horse as we stoke the boiler or furnish gasoline to the motor — 
for the energy that may be developed. To be sure, the horse operates 
his own repair shop with highly skilled mechanicians, but we keep 



SOME NEXT STEPS 179 

him and we feed him for the power he can exert, exactly as we keep 
and feed the engine or the motor. 

There is, for want of a better term, what might be called a 
dynamic element in agricultural science that has been too long 
neglected. We recognize this quantitative element in function in the 
different degrees of vitality in germinating seeds; in what is called 
spirit or nervous energy in certain individual animals; in what Cope 
called growth force in individuals and in species whereby some indi- 
viduals outdistance others and some species enjoy a constantly accel- 
erated development, as in the evolution of the modern horse from 
a five-toed ancestor about the size of a jack rabbit. The same phe- 
nomenon is manifested also in the typical termination to growth by 
which an arm or a leg stops growing at the proper point while hair 
and skin continue to grow as long as life lasts, and regeneration of 
injured tissues is well-nigh universal. These are important questions 
not yet touched by our investigators. 

When physics shall have made its contribution to agricultural 
research, we shall know more than we do now about the tension of 
films upon soil particles as affecting drainage, irrigation, and trans- 
location, and upon the fat globules of milk in its relation to the 
ripening of cream and the churning of butter. We shall then be 
enlightened about those vast and complicated transformations of 
energy that accompany the tearing down of the structure of our foods 
and the building up of those complicated compounds on which animal 
and human activity depend. Then we shall no longer begin our 
chapters on nutrition by the absurd statement that the first object of 
feeding is to "keep up the body temperature," which is a resultant, 
not a prerequisite of physiological activity. 

The biological sciences lie at the base of agricultural production, 
but it is not too much to say that until a very recent date their 
contribution has been slight outside the fields of breeding and of 
communicable disease. 

For example, it did not help the farmer much to be told that what 
he has all along called wheat is really Triticum sativum. He was 
ready enough to believe it, but what earthly use could he make of 
this strictly botanical information evolved for classification purposes? 
It helped him but little more to be told that the berry is really a 
fruit, tho it was news indeed because from boyhood up he had asso- 
ciated fruits with things juicy and good to eat out of hand. And so 
it was that "glumes" and "culms" and "inflorescence" went into 
the intellectual scrap bag along with "plumule," "embryo," and 



180 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

"radiolaria," as interesting but not valuable agricultural information 
coming out of the biological era given mainly to classification. 

But as botany and zoology emerged from a study of form to a 
consideration of structure and finally of function, then it was that 
the biological sciences began to vitalize agriculture almost exactly 
in proportion as they vitalized themselves. 

And now at last we are at the threshold of a scientific study of 
that wilderness of function that we call physiology. It is that form 
of science which studies systematically what living things do as well 
as how they are constructed. It studies them alive and in action 
rather than depending, as we have too much depended, upon killing 
the thing in order to count its bones. 

So is physiology at last coming into its own after a generation or 
two of practical neglect, while scientists largely have been following 
the lead of chemistry or have switched ofi into one of the by-roads 
known as evolution, plant breeding, genetics, or the study of diseases 
and their control. These subjects are all exceedingly useful but they 
are all branches of the main stem, which concerns itself with the way 
in which living things perform their normal functions day by day and 
the conditions necessary to successful growth — which, after all, is 
our principal agricultural problem, especially in crop production. 

The successful growth of crops depends much upon new and 
better varieties, especially those that are resistant to disease; but it 
depends even more upon a better knowledge of the sensitive periods 
of each particular species and the attending conditions of soil and 
climate best suited to its production. Valuable as are the vitamines, 
important as is the rule of the amino acids, there is yet even greater 
significance in those vital activities which do liot lend themselves to 
chemical analysis but must be studied by direct methods brought to 
bear upon the animal or the plant at work and discharging its normal 
function. 

The Contribution from Economics 

Slowly, haltingly, almost apologetically, has the great science of 
economics at last been recognized as able to contribute something to 
agricultural advancement. 

Agriculture as a great productive industry has always figured 
large in the accounting of the economist. In peace it is one of the 
basic industries, whether considered as a source of wealth or as a 
reliable element in commerce and the balance of trade. In war it 
often turns the tide of battle, and as history abundantly demonstrates, 
it is the products of the land that decide the final fate of nations. 



SOME NEXT STEPS 181 

Agriculture, therefore, has always been recognized as of high 
economic, social, and political consequence. But with few exceptions 
the economist, like the physicist, has pretty much let agriculture alone 
as a subject of study for its own Sake. As a consequence, this great 
industry has not much profited by the intelligent application of well- 
known economic principles, nor have farmers as a class much en- 
joyed the benefits of instruction in economic theory and the well- 
known facts of broad human experiences in business relations. 

The result has been that while here and there a few among the 
many students of agriculture have done the best they could in a 
pioneer manner, in acquiring in a kind of second-hand and rather 
belated fashion something of a knowledge of economics as a kind of 
top graft upon a technical training in agronomy, horticulture, animal 
husbandry, or what not ; yet the world awaits a generation of men 
trained from the bottom up in the application of the essential prin- 
ciples of economics to the serious business of farming and its relation 
to the world of commerce and finance, in which it forms so large 
a part and upon which the prosperity of the farmer so largely depends. 
We need new agricultural specialists trained to think in terms of 
economics. 

One of the results of these coming economic studies will be a 
clearer conception on the part of the public of the difference between 
agriculture as a great national industry and farming as an individual 
occupation. As a national industry, it ranks with other great produc- 
ing enterprises, and the value and variety of the product is the thing 
in mind. As an individual occupation, it is intensely human. 

From the individual point of view, agriculture is different from 
other producing industries in three essential respects : 

First: The unit is exceedingly small and the turnover slow as 
compared with the managerial ability required and the capital invested. 

Second: To the individual and his family, farming is a mode 
of life as well as a business, because the home is intimately involved 
with the producing plant. 

Third : In general, the occupancy of the land changes about once 
every twenty years and much more rapidly than the ownership. That 
is to say, the life of the farmer is much shorter than the life of the 
citizen, and this involves difficult questions of ownership. 

Because these things are so, an agriculture may be very prosperous 
to the country at large while very unprosperous, even oppressive, to 
a very large share of the citizens engaged in actual production. This 
is what has given rise to the recent demands for better credit systems. 



182 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

by which is meant systems which individual farmers can use ; and it 
requires no prophet's vision to predict that one of the chief concerns 
of a thinking public in this country is to provide ways for retaining 
upon the land the largest possible proportion of home-owning and 
home-building citizens. 

This is a task never yet successfully performed by any country; 
and it is the chief problem concerning a self-governing people, because 
agriculture is about the only remaining industry engaging the atten- 
tion of large numbers of people in which the individual is necessarily 
an enterpriser and in which all the family can take part : which is only 
another way of saying that it is the only occupation involving large 
numbers, which, by its nature, breeds resourcefulness and individual 
independence. These matters must all enter into and characterize 
the coming task of the College and Station. 

The greatest immediate menace to agricultural welfare and to 
the proper development of any state is a growing degree of irresponsi- 
ble tenantry in which the owner and the tenant conspire to operate 
the farm for immediate results at the expense both of fertility and of 
typical American country life. This is the impending danger to the 
future of Illinois, and adequate plans for transferring ownership of 
farm homes from one generation to the next by a proper system of 
long-term credits is one of the chief problems of the commonwealth. 
This, too, calls for scientific investigation and treatment. 

The fact must not be overlooked, at a time like this, that a great 
struggle is developing the world over between the country and the 
town. This struggle arises from the fact that while the farmer works 
for what the economist calls "goods," — corn, wheat, horses, cattle, 
hogs, — the city works for money, the capitalist for profit, and the 
laborer for what he calls a living. One consequence is to unduly 
exalt capital in city enterprise, and another is to lead the laborer to 
abandon ideas of thrift and to adopt instead measures designed to 
secure the best living obtainable with the least exertion possible, often 
without regard to consequences. This false economy is pushed often 
to the point of systematic reduction of the results of labor in order 
to compel the work to provide as much employment as possible. 
Because of these conditions and because of a prevailing confusion 
as between money and goods, the whole machinery of city enterprise 
operates to inordinately increase the cost of standard necessary com- 
modities, not only to the world at large but also and necessarily to the 
laborer himself. This is one prime cause of the gulf that is forming 
between the country and the town. Such a system is of course bound 



SOME NEXT STEPS 183 

to break down some time, because the world lives upon goods and 
not upon money. It has already broken down in unhappy Russia, 
and we have before us there a concrete example of the way in which 
such a system will finally return its people to the land for the means 
of bare subsistence. 

Now to a people in this desperate condition it would be good 
bolshevism to nationalize the land and regard it solely as a means 
of producing the cheapest possible food, regardless of the home life 
it might and ought to support. We even had a beginning of this idea 
in our own country lately when a bill was proposed in Congress for 
taxing the land for the relief of unemployment. Any movement in 
this direction will not only destroy agriculture as a home-making 
occupation but it will remove from the people the highest incentive 
to labor. A man will work for nothing as he will work for a home 
to shelter his wife and little ones. He will work for this as he will 
not work even for life itself, and the home-building incentive in this 
country must be preserved to the utmost if we would remain a free 
and prosperous people. It is to matters of such far-reaching import 
as these that our economic studies in colleges and experiment stations 
must be directed, as well as to the problems of the individual farmer. 

Another cause of the gulf that is forming between the country 
and the town lies in the field of credit, and it arises from the fact 
that many capitalists fail to appreciate the financial side of farming. 
The New York Journal of Commerce, for example, opposes all plans 
for long-term credit to farmers upon the ground of its undue absorp- 
tion of capital. Under date of December 30, this Journal expresses 
itself editorially as follows: 

"The credit supply of this country is not something to be dis- 
tributed by 'sections' or 'interests.' . . . It is the joint possession of 
the community to be cautiously and soundly used for the benefit and 
the assistance of all and to be distributed to those who are in position 
not only to employ it for sound and economic purposes but to return 
it intact when they agree to do so. This pledge cannot be complied 
with by those who wish to use their borrowings for making long- 
time investments, or in the carrying of agricultural products on 
speculation." 

Repeatedly since that date this journal has given voice in one 
form or another to the same contention, entirely ignoring the fact 
that upon other pages of the same issue appear advertisements for 
and records of transactions in municipal and industrial bonds running 
to periods as remote as 1998 and all possible dates between. Agri- 



184 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

culture has never asked for long-time credit beyond a period of 
thirty-three years, but New York City bonds are handled in the mar- 
kets today as gilt-edged securities and with entire approval tho ab- 
sorbing credit for more than seventy-five years ahead. 

Of course the individual farmer is unable to negotiate a paper 
that is bankable and convertible into liquid credit. The same is true 
of the individual citizen of New York or any other city. But col- 
lectively both parties are able to execute securities which are easily 
marketable, as experience shows, to equal advantage. The bonds of 
the Land Bank are now selling in open market at 102, I believe, and 
it does not appear that either these or long-term bonds of any kind 
absorb capital in the sense of destroying its usefulness. 

The contention of our foremost commercial journal is manifestly 
unsound in this matter, not only as to the facts of the case but also 
as to the equities; for every intelligent man who is fully informed 
knows that agriculture has done its full share in producing the capital 
of the country upon which credit rests, and every fair-minded man 
will agree that it is entitled in equal proportion to the enjoyment of 
its credit needs. From every point of view, the city man has much 
to do in closing up the gap between the country and the town, both 
in the field of production and in the handling of capital ; and he can- 
not relegate to himself either the standards of production or the ex- 
clusive use of the capital which everybody has helped to produce. 

It is contentions like those quoted from the foremost commercial 
journal that tend powerfully to the creation of an agricultural bloc, 
not only in Congress but among thinking farmers everywhere, con- 
siderable numbers of whom are coming to have not a little knowledge 
of the principles governing the business activities of a civilized people. 
For the good of all, this gulf between the country and the town must 
be filled up or bridged over ; and the farmer, the business man, and 
the laborer must each do his share in so necessary a service. 

From every point of view here in the exploration of a field 
hitherto considered as exclusively commercial, lies great work for our 
agricultural colleges, not only for the further enlightenment of farm- 
ing but for the enlightenment of other professions as well. 

The Outlook 

We are to have a new agriculture, if not indeed a new civiliza- 
tion, in the Middle West. In the immediate future Chicago will be 
an ocean port. We shall not always ship our coal and our wool and 



SOME NEXT STEPS 185 

our cotton to the extreme northeast corner of the United States for 
manufacture, then ship the product back again to the center of popula- 
tion, which even now is just across the Indiana line. The Middle 
West will not always buy its steel at "Pittsburgh plus" when most of 
the ore comes from Minnesota and down the lakes to Gary and Joliet. 

Dr. Burrill of blessed memory used to speak of Illinois as an 
imperial state. And such it is, for it lies at the very center of the 
greatest agricultural region of the earth, when land and climate and 
people and possibilities are all considered. 

She has a people unexcelled ; she has a soil capable of supporting 
an immense population, with coal everywhere just under the feet. A 
rolling surface presents no obstacles to land transportation ; and with 
open waterways both to the Atlantic and to the western coast of 
South America, the advantages of these natural conditions are obvious. 
A boat sailing from Chicago is halfway across the Atlantic when 
it emerges from the mouth of the St. Lawrence. The line is almost 
direct from Chicago and St. Louis through the Panama Canal to 
the west coast of South America, a continent which lies almost 
entirely east of Buffalo. If the upper Mississippi valley, therefore, 
is at all alive to its possibilities, we shall see in the immediate future 
a new agriculture, if not a new civilization, centering in Illinois, 
which will then become not only the agricultural but also possibly 
the industrial and commercial center of the world. It does not re- 
quire the vision of a prophet to foresee in the upper Mississippi Val- 
ley a teeming population given to manufacture and trade and sup- 
ported and fed by an intelligent and a prosperous farming constituency. 

The first steps have been taken in finding ways to make our 
agriculture permanent and also comfortable. To make it profitable 
we must prosecute assiduously our scientific and economic studies, in 
order to furnish the facts upon which our leaders must depend for 
successful practise. To make agriculture comfortable we must as 
soon as possible enter upon an era of building permanent farm homes, 
equipping them with modern conveniences, and surrounding them with 
every feasible form of outdoor beauty — real homes where typical 
American children can be born and nourished, drinking in with every 
breath the spirit of a free and a prosperous, self-governing and self- 
directing civilization. 

In all this development the University can be especially helpful, 
particularly because of the fact that the separate units are in general 
too small to engage the interest of professional architects and landscape 
gardeners. It can do much by way of inventing and disseminating 



186 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

appropriate designs for the farmstead and its plantings and for the 
treatment of our rapidly improving highways, and then in arousing 
public interest in outdoor art. Illinois must be something besides an 
endless stretch of fields bare and brown for a third or a half of the 
year; it must develop into an harmonious landscape busy in produc- 
tion but restful to the eye and inspiring to the soul. Her highways 
must be something more than stone speedways; they can be, indeed 
must be, avenues of beauty connecting counties and leading to great 
population centers by parks of pleasantness. 

Yes, we are to have a new agriculture in the Mississippi Valley. 
Shall it be better or worse than the one our pioneer fathers ham- 
mered out from the wilderness and slowly evolved from the prairie 
and the slough ? That is for us to say, for what this new agriculture 
shall be like and what shall be the character of the civilization of 
which it will be a part will depend very much indeed upon the vision 
possessed by our farmers now and in the immediate future. It will 
depend also upon the degree of understanding and of cooperation 
which can be maintained between thinking citizens, who must take 
the lead, and the University, which is the public agent for investigat- 
ing the knotty problems continually arising in a rapidly developing 
civilization. 

The great question is: Shall a state like Illinois drift into its 
new development, accepting what the accidental fates deal out, or 
shall we, by taking thought, control and direct this development to 
some definite ends ? By taking thought early and constantly, the citi- 
zens can make this development almost what they will. What we 
shall be later on will be the result, not of revolution, but of evolution 
from what we now are to what we then shall be. The future of 
Illinois is in her own hands and there is no limit to what may be 
achieved, provided only that she will support, as she has begun to 
support, generously the agencies for progress, and provided the Uni- 
versity will remember, as it always has remembered, that in all real 
development it is the thinking citizen and not his institutions that 
must take the lead. 



THE PROGRAM 
OF THE CONFERENCE 



PROGRAM 



Agricultural Conference 



University of Illinois 



JANUARY 26-27 
1922 




URBANA, ILLINOIS 



'TpHE agriculture of the state is not standing still. 
Without intelligent direction, it will drift and 
her people become the sport of circumstance. 
With early foresight and reasonable attention to 
desirable ends, we may with confidence look for- 
ward to an agricultural development that will add 
enormously to the wealth of the state and to the 
welfare of her people. 

Any program of development must be based 
upon an appreciation of what has been already 
accomplished and a vision of possibilities that lie 
just ahead. It is to encourage interest in such a 
program that this first Agricultural Conference at 
the University has been called. 



190 



Thursday Morning 

January 26 

8:30 

A QUARTER-CENTURY OF AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS 
IN ILLINOIS: A REVIEW OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

Mr. Frank I. Mann, President of the Illinois Farmers' Institute, presiding. 

Greeting 

Eugene Davenport, Dean of College of Agriculture 

A System of Permanent Agriculture 

Ralph Allen, Delavan 

Developments in the Dairy Industry 

N. W. Hepburn, Peoria 

Developments in Horticulture 

J. C. Blair, Professor of Horticulture 

The Work of the Agricultural Experiment Station 

L. H. Smith, Chief in Charge of Publications of the Soil Survey 

The Work of the College of Agriculture 

Fred H. Rankin, Superintendent Agricultural College Extension 



191 



Thursday Afternoon 
1:30 

NEWER PHASES OF AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS 

Honorable B. M. Davison, Director State Department of 
Agriculture, presiding 

Newer Problems in Soil Treatment 

Frank I. Mann, Gilman 

Business Aspects of Farming 

Charles A. Ewing, Decatur 

The Farm Bureau 

E. T. RoBBiNS, Farm Adviser DeWitt County 

The Illinois Agricultural Association 

D. O. Thompson, Secretary, Chicago 

An International Crop Reporting Service 

H. J. Sconce, U. S, Delegate to the International Institute of 
Agriculture at Rome, Sidell 

Financing Farming 

J. D. Phillips, Chairman of the Special Committee on Farm Finance, 
State Division American Bankers Association, Green Valley 



19: 



Thursday Evening 
7:30 

AGRICULTURE IN ITS RELATION TO OTHER 
INTERESTS 

Dean Eugene Davenport, presiding 

The Business of Farming in Some of Its Larger Aspects 
Dr. Thomas Nixon Carver, Harvard Uni'versiiy 

The University and the Farm 

Dr. David Kinley, President of the University of Illinois 



193 



Friday Morning 

January 27 

8:30 

NEXT STEPS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN 
ILLINOIS: A PROGRAM FOR A BETTER BAL- 
ANCED AGRICULTURE 

Mr. Charles A. Ewing, Decatur, presiding 

The Introduction of New Crops 

C. L. Meharry, Attica, Indiana 

Farm Forestry in Illinois 

A. N. Abbott, Morrison 

Can Illinois Come Back as a Stock Breeding Ground? 
W. S. CoRSA, JVhite Hall 

The Outlook for Live Stock in Illinois Agriculture 

H. W. MuMFORD, Professor of Animal Husbandry, and Director of 
Live Stock Marketing, Illinois Agricultural Association 

Roadside Improvement 

W. N. RuDD, Blue Island 

The Country Home 

J. V. Stevenson, Streator 

Discussion 



194 



Friday Afternoon 
1:30 



THE PLACE OF THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND 
EXPERIMENT STATION IN AN ILLINOIS PRO- 
GRAM FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 

Dr. David Kinley, President University of Illinois, presiding 

Physiological Bases of Crop Production 

W. L. BuRLisoN, Professor of Crop Production 

Economic Phases of Farming 

W. F, HandschiNj Professor of Farm Organization and Management 

The Agricultural Extension Service 

M. L. MosHERj President National Association of Farm Advisers, Eureka 

Some Next Steps in the Work of the Agricultural College and Ex- 
periment Station 

Eugene Davenport 
Discussion 



195 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



003 192 393 1 



